Updated Monday, Oct. 27, 1:47p.m.
The mother of the child found dead at a Jamaica homeless shelter has been arrested and charged with murder, according to police.
The 4-year-old girl, Linayjah Meraldo, was found unresponsive and unconscious by police on Thursday at 12:50 p.m. at 80-20 134th St., authorities said. EMS pronounced her dead at the scene.
The location has been identified by published reports as the Briarwood Family Residence, a women’s and children’s temporary shelter.
On Friday, 35-year-old Latoya Curry, Linayjah’s mother, was charged with second-degree murder in connection to her daughter’s death, police said. She was also arraigned on charges of assault and endangering the welfare of a child.
According to District Attorney Richard Brown, Curry, who was living at the shelter with her five children, became angry Wednesday night when the toddler squirted hand cream on the kitchen floor. Curry then allegedly hit her daughter in the stomach and face “so hard that a tooth was dislodged.”
The 35-year-old then allegedly dragged the girl into the bedroom and threw her against a wall and onto the bed, striking her again in her face and stomach, Brown said.
The district attorney said the 4-year-old child then cried and complained about pain in her abdomen, but fell asleep. The following morning, Linayjah woke up with a slight fever and continued to complain about pain in her stomach.
Then between 10 and 11:45 a.m. on the same day, Linayjah took a nap, and when Curry checked on her, she was unresponsive.
According to the office of the Medical Examiner, who ruled the toddler’s death a homicide, Linayjah died from blunt force injuries to her torso.
An autopsy performed on Friday showed that the toddler had internal injuries including multiple recent and healed rib fractures, a torn small intestine, internal bleeding and extensive bruising, and the child also appeared malnourished.
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