Man found overdosed with dead 4-year-old, dying woman pleads not guilty to child cruelty

A 25-year-old Beaumont man found comatose from a drug overdose in an apartment with a dead child and a dying woman pleaded not guilty today to child cruelty.

Tyler Lawrence Finely was arrested on Dec. 16 after he was discovered in the Sixth Street residence with a deceased 4-year-old girl and the woman who may have been her mother or legal guardian.

It wasn't clear what the young girl had died of but police said she had numerous bruises throughout her body and appeared severely malnourished. Investigators said that based on the rate of decomposition, she had been deceased for approximately 1-2 days.

Along with the cruelty count, Finley is charged with a sentence-enhancing allegation of inflicting corporal injuries on a minor resulting in death.

He was arraigned before Riverside County Superior Court Judge Timothy Hollenhorst, who scheduled a felony settlement conference for Jan. 6 at the Banning Justice Center.

Finley was being held without bail at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning.

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

First responders found the dead girl, whose identity has not been released, as well as Finley and the woman, 24-year-old Cheyenne Blackerby, who was unconscious and near death, apparently from an overdose on unconfirmed drugs, police said.

She and Finley were taken to a hospital, where she later died, and he staged a recovery, after which he was booked into jail.

No other information was available regarding the circumstances or relationships.

Finley has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County/