Girl, 11, Charged With Child Abuse After Toddler Dies On Her Watch
In a bizarre and disturbing case from Maryland, an 11-year-old girl has been charged with first-degree child abuse after a 1-year-old toddler died on her watch, according to CNN.
Last Sunday, the girl was reportedly told watch the 1-year-old infant by her mother, who had to leave the house to run a brief errand. In the state of Maryland, a child has to be at least 13 in order to stay at home unsupervised — it is not yet clear if the mother will be charged with a crime as well. Maj. Brian Reilly of the Prince Geroge County Police Department said they are not ruling out the possibility of charging the mother.
“We are still looking at a lot of different things,” Reilly said. “I can’t say yes. I can’t say no.”
Officers found the toddler with severe injuries to the upper part of his body, which led to his death days later. Prince George County Police Department officials said that the 11-year-old girl, who is not to be identified because of her young age, repeatedly assaulted the aforementioned toddler, Paxton Davis.
Maj. Brian Reilly said that when Davis was taken to the hospital, doctors were so alarmed by the extent of his injuries, that they immediately contacted child abuse detectives.
“When hospital staff took a look at our one-year-old victim, they immediately called child abuse detectives due to the severity of his injuries. It was clear from the beginning that the injuries Paxton suffered were not consistent with the normal play of a one-year-old.”
11-Year-Old Girl Charged in Connection with Baby’s Death https://t.co/CL3DOHz7Xz
— PGPDNEWS (@PGPDNews) March 1, 2019
This is Paxton Davis. Police say he was killed by an 11-year-old girl who was left alone with him last week. https://t.co/UVHuiFSL9O pic.twitter.com/jva1MHsiJJ
— Cory Smith (@CoryNBC) March 1, 2019
Officials investigating the case explained that they could not quite understand a child’s motivation to assault an infant in such a cruel fashion.
“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 1-year-old. There are no words. There is no reason for this to take place,” Reilly said.
He also claimed that the girl had often been to the infant’s house, with both families being on friendly terms. It seems the young girl did not exhibit any clear warning signs that could have alerted the mother about her daughter’s eventual horrific actions.
Paxton’s family members have been left shocked and confused by the chain of events, as they cannot believe that a girl they knew well would assault their child. They have started a GoFundMe page for Paxton Davis, where they claim that the 11-year-old girl had severe issues. They also detail that the girl hit Paxton with a weapon, but police have yet to confirm those details.
