MIAMI — Upset that the toddler left in his care wouldn't stop crying, a 12-year-old Lauderhill, Fla., boy picked up a baseball bat and beat the little girl to death, city police said.
"He became enraged . . . because she made noise while he was trying to watch television," Lauderhill police Lt. Mike Cochran said.
The boy was believed to be a cousin of the victim, 17-month-old Shaloh Joseph, who died from multiple blows to the head, authorities said.
He was arraigned on Sunday on a first-degree-murder charge in Broward County Juvenile Court, where a judge ordered the youngster held in juvenile detention pending another hearing later this month.
Police said the boy had no previous arrest record.
He had been left alone with his 10-year-old brother and little Shaloh at her home Friday where the beating took place, authorities said. When later questioned by investigators, the boy gave detectives a taped confession, Cochran said.
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According to police, at about 1:15 p.m. Friday, an adult called 911 saying the toddler was having difficulty breathing.
When Lauderhill Fire Rescue arrived, the tot was not breathing and was rushed to Plantation General Hospital while medics performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Police said the girl died of several blunt-force strikes to her head.
On Saturday, police questioned the boy and took him into custody.
At the brief hearing Sunday in front of county Judge Martin Dishowitz, the small-framed 12-year-old sat shackled in a tan jumpsuit, in a row with other youngsters facing charges ranging from punching a parent to drug crimes. The boy was one of the smaller and younger kids in the row.
Dressing in their Sunday-best clothing, the boy's father, mother, brother, aunt and uncle attended the hearing, where family members told the judge that the boy was afraid of the police who interrogated him, and asked for his release.
At one point, the family offered up the boy's 10-year-old brother to testify, which the judge denied.
"He is not a violent kid," said the boy's mother, Guerla Joseph. "He loves kids."
But the judge said he found probable cause to believe the boy committed the crime and ordered a Jan. 22 hearing.
Assistant State Attorney Maria Schneider said the case could remain in Juvenile Court or be presented to a grand jury, which could indict him as an adult.
