2 children, 2 women face charges in beating death of 3-year-old toddler in Louisiana

Two children and two adults are facing charges in the beating death of a 3-year-old girl in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, including the toddler's mother, according to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office.

Two boys, ages 10 and 12, were taken into custody and charged with simple battery and second-degree murder, the sheriff’s office wrote in a news release. They were booked into the East Baton Rouge Juvenile Detention facility. 

Two women were also charged in the case, each facing principal to battery and principal to second degree murder charges.

One of the women is the mother of the 3-year-old victim. The other woman is the mother of one juvenile suspect and the aunt of the other juvenile suspect.

Beating happened while children were left unattended during casino trip, sheriff's office says

According to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, deputies were called to a home on Feb. 12 about an unresponsive 3-year-old girl.

A boy called dispatchers and asked for help. He said he was inside a home and a child who was also with him had stopped breathing. There were no adults in the home, he told dispatchers.

The boy didn’t know the address of the home he was in so deputies began knocking on doors in the area. While knocking on doors, deputies saw a vehicle arrive with its emergency flashers on. Inside the vehicle were two women who said they’d just left the casino. Both of the women went inside the home, where a 3-year-old girl was found unresponsive.

EMS and members of the fire department showed up and eventually the girl was taken to the hospital with bruises and abrasions to her face and body. She had suffered blunt force trauma and brain bleed and was in critical condition, medical staff said. She died two days later, on Valentine's Day.

Authorities investigated and found that eight children ranging from 11 months old to 12 years old were left at home for several hours. Two of those children, ages 10 and 12, were deemed suspects in the beating of the girl.

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One of the young boys charged had shown 'violent behavior' previously

While authorities were interviewing one of the juveniles later taken into custody, the mother and aunt of the juvenile suspects said she had seen bruising on some of the children when she left them alone with her juvenile nephew, arrest records show. 

She admitted to deputies that she knew about her nephew’s “violent behavior” towards the other children but continued to leave them unsupervised with her son and nephew for several hours.

The Department of Children and Family Services was notified about the children being left in the home alone.

"A case like this is devastating," Sheriff Sid Gautreaux said in a news release. 

"My heart breaks for this child lost too soon, and I pray for the others involved. Please call law enforcement immediately if you are ever aware of abuse, neglect or desertion of children."