Background: A section of the 2100 block of South Beechwood Street in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Google Maps). Inset left: Sean Hernandez (Philadelphia Police Department). Inset right: Key’Monnie Bean (Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office).
New details have emerged in the Pennsylvania case of a man who allegedly beat his girlfriend’s 2-year-old daughter until she died in a basement room.
Sean Hernandez, 21, faces charges including murder, endangering the welfare of a child, possession of an instrument of crime with intent, and recklessly endangering another person in the death of Key’Monnie Bean, according to court records.
As the defendant appeared in court for a hearing on Thursday, prosecutors laid out their allegations.
Key’Monnie Bean’s body showed signs of suffocation as well as blunt force trauma to the head and torso, a forensic pathologist who examined her testified, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. The child’s mother also spoke, detailing a climate of fear and abuse.
On Dec. 8, 2025, Ka’Nijah Bean said she, Hernandez, and Key’Monnie arrived at Hernandez’s home on the 2100 block of South Beechwood Street in Philadelphia, and the defendant got angry with the child. He allegedly grabbed her by the arm, took her to a basement bedroom, and left her in the corner.
Key’Monnie cried, but the adults fell asleep on their bed, Bean went on.
The woman then woke up to find Hernandez — who also went by the alias Raafi Gorham and was not the child’s father — reportedly hitting the sleeping toddler with a “slide” sandal.
“He hit her in her sleep, and put her back in the corner,” Bean said, according to the newspaper. “Every time she tried to cry, he told her to shut up.”
Bean explained that she did not step in to defend her daughter because she feared Hernandez would hurt her, too. He had allegedly once cut her with a machete and another time pulled a gun on her.
Key’Monnie was “gasping for air,” and Bean reportedly saw Hernandez standing over the girl with a metal pole. He is said to have then tied the child’s hands with a charging cord and wrapped her in a blanket.
The couple then went to ShopRite, and when they returned, they found Key’Monnie “on the floor, facedown” and unresponsive. Bean called 911, and the girl was rushed to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, where she was pronounced dead.
Two other people — 21-year-old Anthony Lowrie and 20-year-old Alycia McNeill — were upstairs playing video games when the alleged fatal beating took place, authorities said. They were charged with obstruction of justice as they were accused of lying to responding police about what happened.
As the investigation went on, Hernandez allegedly sent texts to Bean asking her to protect him — messages that prosecutors showed the court on Thursday.
“You promise you got me, bae?” Hernandez reportedly asked Bean before telling her he would give her another child if she did so.
Prosecutors have also suggested that Key’Monnie may have been abused before the day of the attack. Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner was overcome with emotion as he talked about the case in December.
“You don’t have to be a parent …” he said while wiping his eyes. “We should be outraged at what happened to this 2-year-old.”
Hernandez is expected to return to court on May 21.
