Trial proceedings start for Beaumont man accused of causing child’s death

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - Pretrial motions got underway today ahead of jury selection for the trial of a Beaumont man accused of causing the death of his girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter, whose remains were found in an apartment with him and the woman after they had overdosed on drugs.  

Tyler Lawrence Finley, 30, was arrested in 2020 following a Beaumont Police Department investigation.  

Finley is charged with first-degree murder, child abuse and a sentence-enhancing allegation of inflicting great bodily injury or death on a minor.   

Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samah Shouka on Friday received motions from the prosecution and defense regarding scheduling, witnesses, evidence and other matters. Jury selection was expected to begin next week at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

The defendant is being held without bail at the Robert Presley Jail.   

According to Beaumont police, on the afternoon of Dec. 16, 2020, officers and paramedics went to Finley's apartment in the 800 block of East Sixth Street, near Palm Avenue, after receiving reports of an occupant in medical distress.  

First responders found the dead girl, whose name was not released, as well as Finley and the woman, 24-year-old Cheyenne Blackerby, both of whom were unconscious and near death from an overdose of unspecified drugs, police said.   

Blackerby and Finley were taken to nearby San Gorgonio Memorial Hospital, where the woman later died. The defendant staged a recovery, after which he was booked into jail.  

No other details were provided, including the specific drugs tied to the child's death, or how long she had been deceased before her remains were found.  

Finley has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.