A 3-year-old girl from Brooklyn, N.Y. is dead today and police believe the person responsible is her mother's 20-year-old boyfriend, who allegedly "punched and choked" her after she either soiled her pants with urine or feces.
Little Jeida Torres died at a local hospital Saturday after police were called to the scene by a neighbor who reported hearing screams coming from an apartment in a city homeless shelter shortly before 4 p.m. Kelsey Smith, the mother's boyfriend, was reportedly left in charge of Jeida and her older brother and cops say he fled the scene after causing fatal injuries to the girl's head and body.
Smith, who reportedly has 14 prior arrests that date back to 2008, also allegedly beat Jeida's 5-year-old brother, Andrew, though cops aren't sure if his bruises were inflicted before Saturday's incident. A neighbor says she heard Smith and the girl's mother, Kimberly Torres, fighting for about two weeks prior to this horrific crime. The same neighbor says she called police about the noise but that no one came to intervene.
Torres arrived home about 30 minutes after police were called to her apartment and told them she had left her two children alone with her boyfriend while she went to work. Ambulance workers say Jeida was unable to move when they found her and rushed her to the hospital and witnesses say the girl was brought out in a blanket and that her hands were "limp."
Smith was found by police in Queens that night and is in their custody. Prior to his arrest, they say he tried to commit suicide by slashing his wrists. As of Sunday morning, no formal charges have been filed against him yet.
His prior arrests were reportedly for robbery, grand larceny and gang assault charges.
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This poor, poor baby didn't deserve to feel any pain. I don't think now is a good time to point fingers at this child's mother, but I desperately want to ask her if there was any indication that her boyfriend was violent and, if so, why, why, WHY would she let him anywhere near her children? Assuming he is found guilty of this horrific crime, was he that great at pretending he was someone he wasn't?
Do you think you would know if your partner were capable of violence of this kind? Do you think moms can sense it?
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