Angela West and Shamira Buford: 2 Missouri women arrested for killing 5-year-old girl for stealing food
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WAYNESVILLE, MISSOURI: Two Missouri women were taken into custody on a slew of felony charges for allegedly killing a five-year-old child. The young girl was hogtied to a futon and gagged with a sock in her mouth as punishment for stealing food. On Tuesday, March 7, Angela West, 40, and Shamira Buford, 36, were arrested.
Following the death of the child, West and Buford have been charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter, second-degree murder, first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death, according to authorities, reported Law and Crime.
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The 5-year-old was found dead by her sibling
On Tuesday, March 7, a young student called the resource officer of Waynesville School to report that before he left for school, he saw his 5-year-old sister unresponsive and unconscious on the floor. The officer quickly called the Waynesville Police Department to the home situated in the 700 block on Washington Street. The residence is located 140 miles southwest of St Louis.
The first responder who arrived at the home at around 8.50 am tried to contact another sibling of the reporting child. Answering the door, the second child said that "her younger sibling was deceased inside the residence."
"Officers made entry and confirmed that one person, a 5-year-old female, was unconscious and unresponsive. After the Waynesville Officers secured the area, the victim was pronounced deceased on scene by Pulaski County Coroner Roger Graves,” stated the press release from the police department.
Later, West and Buford, who were asleep when the first responders arrived, were taken into custody and shifted to the Pulaski County Jail and have been held without bond, as per the order by County Circuit Judge Colin Long with additional proceedings pending. According to the report, Buford discovered the 5-year-old girl's body in the living room and found that she was covered by a blanket.
'Marks around her wrists, ankles, and neck'
As per the police statement, the child appeared to have "significant" marks around her neck, wrists and ankles. Right next to the deceased child's body, a grey sock with blood on it was found and it was "saturated in an unknown substance."
The child, who initially informed the incident, told the investigators that his little sister was tied up for several weeks as stole food. West and Buford used to make the other siblings tie up the 5-year-old to a futon, said another child, reported Law and Crime.
