Authorities in Ohio have charged an 11-year-old girl with the juvenile equivalent of murder after she allegedly beat a two-month-old to death last week.
According to CNN, the incident took place early last Friday morning at a Wickliffe, Ohio apartment. The 11-year-old was reportedly helping her mother babysit Zuri Whitehead, the daughter of family friend Trina Whitehead. However, when her mother fell asleep on the couch, authorities told the Associated Press that the girl took the newborn upstairs, then woke her mother up about 45 minutes later:
The mother was awakened less than an hour later by her daughter, who was holding the badly injured infant. Ice said the 11-year-old took the infant upstairs. When she returned downstairs, the infant was bleeding and her head was badly swollen, he said.
The 11-year-old's mother immediately called 911, Ice said.
The Associated Press reports that the child was airlifted to a Cleveland trauma center, where she died during surgery. CNN adds that the Whitehead's death was ruled a homicide by the Cuyahoga County Coroner's office, nothing that she suffered "massive injuries to her brain, liver, spleen and kidney." Neither the girl nor her mother are being identified due to her age.
The girl, who appeared in court yesterday, will undergo a psychiatric evaluation prior to appearing again.
[via CNN and Associated Press]
