BEAR, Del. (AP) — A Delaware daycare worker has been arrested on a murder charge in the death of an infant under her care, police said Friday.
Investigators determined that 19-year-old Dejoynay Ferguson placed her hands over the 4-month-old girl’s mouth and nose and intentionally restricted her breathing, a Delaware State Police news release says. The child was pronounced dead at a hospital later Thursday.
Court records say surveillance video at Little People Child Development Center in Bear shows Ferguson pick up the child by the front of her shirt and place the baby on a changing table. The Delaware News Journal reports Ferguson told police she had grabbed the child by the shirt because the baby was “fussy” and wouldn’t stop crying.
Ferguson placed the child back into a crib after the girl became “unresponsive” and didn’t alert the daycare’s owner until approximately 20 minutes later, police said.
Ferguson, a New Castle resident, was charged with first-degree murder and remained jailed Friday on $1 million cash bail.
The state Office of Child Care Licensing has suspended the center’s license.
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