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Far Rockaway mom pleads guilty to killing 2-year-old daughter

Far Rockaway mom pleads guilty to killing 2-year-old daughter
Photo by Michael Shain
By Gina Martinez

A 31-year-old Far Rockaway mom has been charged in the 2014 beating death of her two-year-old daughter, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said.

Ashley Diaz, pleaded guilty to first-degree assault and second-degree manslaughter. A Queens Supreme Court judge indicated Diaz would be sentenced on Feb. 1 to 17 years in prison followed by five years post release supervision.

“The defendant admitted to doing the unthinkable – killing her own child,” Brown said. “In the short two years of the victim’s life, she suffered greatly. Bruises, abrasions and lacerations covered her tiny body. She was shaken violently and her brain was severely damaged and her liver lacerated. The defendant will be incarcerated for a very long time.”

According to the charges, at 5:30 p.m. on Feb. 3, 2014 a neighbor was watching daughter Kevasia Edwards as Diaz left the apartment to buy groceries. At the time the toddler was asleep, when she woke up the baby sitter noticed she was pale and lethargic, Brown said.

Later in the afternoon at 11:15 p.m. the baby sitter received a call from Diaz telling her Kevasia was not breathing and unresponsive, the DA said. The baby sitter returned to Diaz apartment and began CPR , she observed the toddler’s face, which appeared to be red and bruised, her lip was bleeding and teeth were missing, according to the DA.

Kevasia was taken to St. John’s Episcopal Hospital in cardiac arrest where she was pronounced dead, Brown said. The toddler had both old and fresh bruising on her face, legs and torso, two of her ribs had been fractured and there were burn marks, according to medical personnel. The injuries were inconsistent with the history given by Diaz, who told doctors her daughter had a seizure and fell to the ground, Brown said.

According to the charges, Diaz told officials that her daughter was acting normally and in good health during the time she was the sole caregiver – from Friday, January 31, 2014, until February

3, 2014. Diaz said that at 9:30 p.m. on Feb. 3 Kevasia had a seizure and fell to the ground and became unresponsive, she admitted that she sat by her daughter for at least 30 minutes while the child was unresponsive and not breathing and that she did not call anyone for help until after 11:00 p.m., District Attorney Brown said.

According to the autopsy report issued by the Medical Examiner, Kevasia suffered multiple fresh and old bruising to her face, neck, torso and legs, multiple scalp abrasions and lacerations, multiple scars of varying ages about her body and other markings consistent with trauma. She also suffered subdural bleeding, hemorrhaging resulting from multiple impacts of varying ages underneath the scalp, bilateral optical nerve sheath hemorrhages, hemorrhage resulting from impact to her lower back, two healing rib fractures and traumatic liver injuries, the Medical Examiner said. The autopsy report preliminary medical findings were consistent with Abusive Head Trauma with multiple, violent impacts to her head and body, Brown said.

Reach Gina Martinez by e-mail at gmartinez@cnglocal.com or by phone at (718) 260–4566.