Ghana mom's child-abuse charges increased to murder
A Ghanaian health-care worker accused of abusing her 3-year-old daughter is now charged with a homicide.
Although the autopsy report has not yet been released, the Arapahoe County District Attorney's office today charged Susie Ida Quartey with child abuse knowingly and recklessly causing death.
A class 2 felony, it carries a penalty of four to 48 years in prison. Quartey, a health-care worker, was also charged with tampering with a witness or victim, a class 4 felony, because she allegedly told her 5-year-old son not to talk about what had happened, said deputy district attorney Melissa Drazen-Smith.
Quartey's fragile mental state was evaluated at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, where she was found competent to understand the proceedings against her, presiding Judge Richard Jauch was told.
The 34-year-old woman was arrested after telling police that she had been carrying her daughter, Jolyn Torpoh, in a sling on her back April 7 when she slipped on some ice-covered gravel in her Aurora yard.
When the child stopped breathing later that night, Quartey called for help. Investigators found the child naked on the bedroom floor, with scratches, puncture wounds and bruises on her body.
A misdemeanor child abuse charge was dropped now that the case is a homicide, authorities said. Quartey also faces charges filed after her arrest this spring, including sex assault on a child and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Quartey is scheduled to be back in court June 26, when a judge will hear motions filed by the defense for reimbursement of costs and a change of venue. Source:Colorado
Although the autopsy report has not yet been released, the Arapahoe County District Attorney's office today charged Susie Ida Quartey with child abuse knowingly and recklessly causing death.
A class 2 felony, it carries a penalty of four to 48 years in prison. Quartey, a health-care worker, was also charged with tampering with a witness or victim, a class 4 felony, because she allegedly told her 5-year-old son not to talk about what had happened, said deputy district attorney Melissa Drazen-Smith.
Quartey's fragile mental state was evaluated at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo, where she was found competent to understand the proceedings against her, presiding Judge Richard Jauch was told.
The 34-year-old woman was arrested after telling police that she had been carrying her daughter, Jolyn Torpoh, in a sling on her back April 7 when she slipped on some ice-covered gravel in her Aurora yard.
When the child stopped breathing later that night, Quartey called for help. Investigators found the child naked on the bedroom floor, with scratches, puncture wounds and bruises on her body.
A misdemeanor child abuse charge was dropped now that the case is a homicide, authorities said. Quartey also faces charges filed after her arrest this spring, including sex assault on a child and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon.
Quartey is scheduled to be back in court June 26, when a judge will hear motions filed by the defense for reimbursement of costs and a change of venue. Source:Colorado
Comments