11-year-old girl brutally assaults, kills one-year-old infant left in her care by babysitter mother
An 11-year-old girl has been charged with child abuse after a toddler she was watching over while her mother ran an errand died. The authorities in Prince George's County, Maryland, arrested the child on March 1 after they say she intentionally injured one-year-old toddler Paxton Davis on February 24.
The infant's mothers, Shonte Jennings and Tanya Davis, said that they left their baby with the girl's mother, who the authorities have not identified, on February 23 night. They also mentioned that they had given Paxton to the woman to babysit before without any problems, the Daily Mail reported.
On February 24 morning, however, the babysitter, who is a former friend of the mothers, left Paxton alone with her daughter to run an errand. When the woman came back home, she found Paxton had suffered from serious injuries that included a fractured skull. She immediately called the infant's mother who told her to call 911.
Paxton was taken off his life support on February 28 night after his mothers were able to say their goodbyes. Davis told NBC4: "I got in the room for a second by myself and I talked to him and I said, 'Baby, you don’t have to fight no more. You don’t have to fight for Mommy no more. I’m at peace. I know you wasn’t here forever. God gave you to me to borrow. It would be selfish to leave you on life support'."
The little boy's mothers were told initially that Paxton's injuries happened when he fell off a bed. Jennings said: "A cracked skull and you fell off a bed? It didn't line up." The 11-year-old girl, however, confessed to the detectives later and said that she assaulted the infant. The authorities charged her with felony child abuse on March 1 and transported her to a juvenile detention facility.
Prince George's County Police Major Brian Reilly said that investigators are still unclear on the girl's motive. He said: "I don’t know what motive there would be in a situation like this for an 11-year-old to intentionally inflict injuries on a one-year-old. In my time, I’m not aware of somebody this young being charged with this serious of an offense out of our homicide unit."
Fox News reported that children cannot be legally left alone with a supervisor who is under 13 years old in the state of Maryland. Paxton's mothers were furious and said that they want the 11-year-old girl's mother to be held responsible for the tragedy.
The authorities have said that they are consulting with the State Attorney's office to see if anyone else will face charges. A GoFundMe page that was started on February 28 has raised almost $8,000, exceeding the goal of $5,000.
