Nanny and grandmother-of-10 convicted of force-feeding infant to death with baby formula
A nanny in Maryland was convicted of murder after prosecutors were able to successfully argue in court that she poured almost 8 ounces of baby formula down an infant's throat in less than 30 seconds, causing the 8-month-old's death.
Seventy three-year-old Oluremi Adeleye declined to have a trial by jury and a judge ended up ruling on her case. Influence Salubi, the toddler's father, testified in the court that he found his 8-month-old infant daughter lifeless and with milk streaming down her face from her nose.
The little girl, Enita, died on October 24, 2016, according to USA Today, and would have turned three-years-old during the trial.
According to the Washington Post, the frantic father screamed, "What did you do?! What happened?!" to the nanny before trying to suck the liquid out of his child's face. He said in court: "You left home with a live baby and come home with a dead baby. It’s not something I can forget."
A nanny camera in the house captured what happened between Adeleye and the infant on the video. Defense lawyers for the nanny, who was arrested under her married name of Oluremi Oyindasola, said that she had been "cup feeding" the baby.
Adeleye, who is a mother of five and grandmother to ten children, said that feeding children so that they do not go hungry is normal in her home country of Nigeria and that she didn't mean to hurt Enita.
The footage played in court showed the nanny lying down on the couch and the infant bouncing in a walker. The baby started yanking at the nanny, who got up a few moments later and attempted to give the child a bottle.
Adeleye eventually removed the nipple and the lid from the feeding bottle and poured the formula down the infant's mouth as she squirms. The almost full 8-ounce bottle was drained in less than a minute. The infant could be seen wriggling in Adeleye's arms before she falls to the ground. The nanny can then be seen picking her up and attempting to give her more milk from a second bottle.
According to the Washington Post's description of the video, Enita finally went "limp like a rag doll" with Adeleye "rocking the baby for minutes, trying to make her alert and wiping the girl’s face as her head flops back and forth."
The elderly nanny was found guilty of second-degree murder, second-degree child abuse, and child abuse resulting in death. Her sentencing has been scheduled for May 3.
Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha N. Braveboy said in court that the nanny camera played a major role in securing a conviction.
