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ACS Was Investigating Mom Whose Toddler Was Left Alone To Die In A Fire
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 25, 2016
Modified Feb 25, 2016
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 25, 2016
Modified Feb 25, 2016
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The woman whose two-year-old daughter died in a Brooklyn apartment fire is being held on $10,000 bail for allegedly leaving the girl by herself. Leila Aquino sobbed during the arraignment, and her lawyer argued, "This case is obviously a great tragedy. A child has died. My client is grieving for the loss of this child."
Aquino apparently arrived at her home, 755 Monroe Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, around 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday—two hours after firefighters put out the fire on the building's top floor. The Wall Street Journal reports that prosecutors say she "called her mother to say that Kalenah [Muldrow] was inside... The mother contacted authorities. Firefighters returned to the scene and found the child face down under a bed in a second-floor bedroom, the first law-enforcement official said. An autopsy determined she died of smoke inhalation."
While questioned by police, Aquino allegedly said that the daughter was with a baby-sitter. From the NY Times:
She then said she had gone out expecting a babysitter to arrive after making arrangements through Facebook, the prosecutor said. Phone records, however, showed that it had been weeks since Ms. Aquino communicated with the person she identified as the babysitter, [prosecutor Tziyonah] Langsam said. At that point, the prosecutor said, Ms. Aquino acknowledged that she had left the child unattended.
It was initially reported that Aquino was working at a strip club in Queens, but now police sources say she skipped her shift; PIX 11 reports, "Police say Aquino left her toddler home alone, while she ditched work at CityScapes Strip club and went to party with her new boyfriend."
Aquino, who is charged with reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child, was being investigated by the Administration for Children's Services. ACS recently received a anonymous complaint.
The apartment was originally occupied by Kalenah's father Kason Muldrow, whose 89-year-old grandfather owns the building, but Muldrow moved out when he and Aquino broke up. Muldrow's mother lamented, "You don’t leave a 2-year-old alone in the house. [Aquino] deserves what she gets... My son let her live rent-free. She had a diploma. She could’ve gotten a regular 9-to-5 job."
The FDNY is continuing to investigate the cause of the fire.
Tagged
brooklyn
fatal fire
kalenah muldrow
leila aquino
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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