- Shawnta Montgomery
A 20-year-old Roosevelt woman was charged with manslaughter in the death of her 2-year-old daughter after an autopsy revealed that blows the girl allegedly received as punishment for misbehaving while brushing her teeth lacerated her liver, Nassau police said Monday.
Shawnta Montgomery was arrested Sunday after an autopsy showed that her daughter, Dishawna, died Friday from internal bleeding that resulted from the liver injury, said Detective Lt. John Azzata of the Homicide Squad.
Montgomery was held Monday on charges of two counts of first-degree manslaughter, which each carry a potential penalty of up to 25 years in prison.
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Azzata said Montgomery, who is 7 months pregnant, hit the toddler for misbehaving while brushing her teeth Friday morning.
Azzata said police were not disclosing what Montgomery was believed to have used to strike the girl.
The girl’s father was on active duty with the Navy in Virginia when the attack occurred, Azzata said.
Police arrested the mother’s boyfriend, Benjamin Smith, on Friday when it was discovered that he was wanted on an attempted murder charge in Virginia for firing a handgun into the home where Montgomery had lived there last November, Azzata said. Smith, he added, is the father of Montgomery’s unborn child.
Azzata said police do not believe Smith was involved in the attack on the 2-year-old girl.
The family moved from Norfolk, Va., to Long Island last month. Azzata said authorities in Virginia previously had received child-abuse complaints involving the 2-year-old girl, though no complaints had been lodged in New York.
Azzata said Smith was awaiting extradition to Virginia.
It was not immediately clear who was representing Montgomery and Smith. A message left with the Legal Aid Society of Nassau County was not immediately returned.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
