Thornton's daughter charged in connection with baby death

The eldest daughter of actor Billy Bob Thornton has been charged regarding the death of a one-year-old girl she was babysitting, it was reported today.

Police in Ocoee, Florida, said 29-year-old Amanda Brumfield was charged with child neglect causing harm or disability and was in custody.

News reports said she was Thornton’s daughter by his first wife Melissa Gatlin.

Brumfield told detectives that a girl she was babysitting in October hit her head in a fall in an Ocoee home, Detective James Berish said.

Brumfield called for help more than two hours later when she could not revive the girl, police in the city near Orlando said.

An autopsy found the girl had a fractured skull and brain injury. The medical examiner ruled the death a murder and said the explanation Brumfield gave was inconsistent with the child’s injuries, police said.

Thornton’s publicist Arnold Robinson said the actor has not had contact with Brumfield for some time.

He would not confirm that Brumfield was the woman arrested, but that when Thornton was “informed about this situation” he commented that “Anytime a baby’s life is lost is an unimaginable tragedy and my heart goes out to the baby’s family and loved ones”.