Left to right: Emmanuel Dennis and Celia Nunn (Fayette County District Attorney’s Office).
Prosecutors in Pennsylvania are seeking the death penalty against a 30-year-old mother and her 33-year-old fiance for allegedly killing the woman’s 2-year-old daughter who was beaten and tortured to death over the course of several days.
The Fayette County District Attorney’s Office last week formally filed a Notice of Aggravating Circumstances in the cases against Celia Nunn and Emmanuel Dennis, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. Dennis is accused of inflicting a series of fatal beatings on young Margaret “Maggie” Nunn while the victim’s mother allegedly knew what was going on, but did not try to stop Dennis. She also allegedly refused to seek medical assistance and did not call authorities.
Both are facing first-degree murder charges in the brutal October 2024 slaying.
According to court documents obtained by the local Observer-Reporter newspaper, prosecutors are pursuing capital punishment based on two aggravating factors: Maggie’s age, and allegations that the couple subjected her to torture.
“As far as the torture goes, the repeated abuse led us to believe that the child suffered for a prolonged period before passing away,” Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele reportedly said Wednesday. “We will do everything in our power to severely punish those who harm our children. This type of conduct will not be tolerated in the county.”
As previously reported by Law&Crime, troopers with the Pennsylvania State Police on the afternoon of Oct. 21, 2024, responded to an apartment complex in the 300 block of the Village of Searights apartments in Uniontown after being contacted by emergency medical personnel who were treating an unresponsive 2-year-old at one of the residences. The complex is just over 300 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
Maggie was initially discovered lying face down with what appeared to be dried vomit around her mouth, The Herald-Standard, a local news website, reported. She also appeared to be covered in bruises and scratches.
During an interview with investigators, Dennis, who said he was engaged to Maggie’s mother, reportedly admitted that he had been physically abusing Maggie, complaining to detectives that the toddler was in the throes of the “terrible twos.” He specifically stated that he kicked Maggie across an upstairs hallway, per the Herald-Standard.
Dennis also claimed that Maggie had fallen at least six times over the weekend and struck her head.
A particularly bizarre detail about the interview stuck out to investigators, who reportedly noted that throughout their conversation with Dennis, he repeatedly referred to Maggie simply as “it.”
Nunn reportedly told police that she had personally witnessed Dennis physically abusing Maggie over the previous four days. In one instance, she said he dragged the girl to her room by her arm and repeatedly hit her until she lost consciousness.
Nunn said she advocated for taking Maggie to the hospital, but Dennis refused to let her because he was afraid her condition would lead to an investigation by Children and Youth Services. However, prosecutors say Nunn simply chose not to do anything to help Maggie in order to avoid getting in trouble herself.
“This child was suffering. Within her final days, she couldn’t even sit up straight but the parents were continuing to punish her, continue to put her in time out and knew they needed to get help for her but thought they’d get in trouble if they did,” Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele said last week, according to a report from Pittsburgh NBC affiliate WPXI. “It is not even worth addressing any assertion [that] this child somehow was acting or behaving differently than any other child. We have just a callous, disgusting attitude that was expressed not only by Mr. Dennis but by the child’s mother. There is just no excuse for it.”
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