Getty
A mother beat a homeless man to death with a baseball bat after he allegedly molested her four-year-old daughter.
Forsythia Owen, 30, confessed to police that she attacked Denzle Rainey in an alleyway in Englewood, Colorado, where he had been sleeping rough.
Dad Mr Rainey, who was homeless after breaking up with his wife, was found in the alley with serious injuries. He had a cracked skull, broken ribs and vital organs had been damaged. A post-mortem examination showed his broken ribs had cut into his liver.
Owens was arrested and is facing first-degree murder charges.She allegedly told officers that the unnamed child told her Mr Rainey had sexually abused her.
Police are investigating Owen's claims that he molested her daughter.
When police asked if she was responsible for the man's death, the mother, 'stood up and said she killed him,' according to an affidavit.
"'Owen swung her hands back and forth and demonstrated how she struck Rainey over and over again because of what he did to [name redacted]," the document stated.
The mother allegedly told police that after hearing that Mr Rainey was sleeping in an alley, she sought him out and attacked while he was still sleeping.
Mr Rainey's injuries were so severe his wife said she struggled to recognise him when she visited in hospital shortly before his death.
"It didn't look like my husband cause his head was so beaten," said Lisa Rainey, who lives in Denver.
She added that she doubted claims that her husband had molested a child.
"I just don't know why, what caused her to do this on Denzel, and if Denzel did anything to provoke it," she said.
"I need to know the answers for closure for me and closure for my kids."
The couple had been going through a rough patch, and Mr Rainey had recently left the family home as he struggled to deal with drink problems.