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A Pennsylvania mother has been charged with third-degree murder after police allege she pushed her five-year-old daughter down the basement stairs on Halloween night, PEOPLE confirms.
Ciara Robinson, 25, is also charged with voluntary and involuntary manslaughter as well as aggravated assault and endangering the welfare of a child in the death of Amatulah “Amy” McLaughlin.
At approximately 9:35 p.m. on October 31, paramedics and police were called to Robinson’s Parkesburg home where they found the toddler not breathing and without a pulse, indicating she had been dead for a while.
Chester County Sheriff’s Office
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According to the statement, Robinson allegedly became angry with the girl, hit her and then intentionally shoved her down basement stairs that were 8 to 9 feet high. The child struck her head on the concrete floor below.
The statement alleges that Robinson subsequently told a friend, “I knocked [the victim] out… She won’t wake up… I am going to jail.”
The coroner ruled that Amy died of blunt force trauma to the head, which resulted in an acute subdural hematoma and a swollen brain.
According to the complaint, Robinson allegedly confessed that she had become angry with the girl that night and had punched and slapped her. She also told police that she had threatened her daughter about putting her in the basement with the “Boogey Man” but said her daughter fell down the stairs after that, the complaint alleges.
It was not immediately clear if she has entered a plea or retained an attorney.
source: people.com
