A teenager has been arrested on manslaughter charges for the death of their three-year-old sister, a police department in Florida has said.
The child was found unresponsive at a MainStay Suites hotel in Altamonte Springs, a suburb of Orlando, on Friday. She was rushed to hospital where she was pronounced dead.
A preliminary investigation found that a teenage sibling had placed “a pillow over her sister to quiet her down”, police said on Monday. That person was 16-years-old.
The mother of the two children reportedly told the teenager to “quiet” the sister, who was in a room next to the mother, who was on a work call.
The teenager had allegedly been looking after her younger sibling in a bedroom of a suite at the hotel on Raymond Ave when the incident occurred. MainStay is a chain of hotels providing long-term accommodation and, as Fox5 reported, the family were living there.
The Altamonte Springs Police Department said when the teenager returned to the room where her three-year-old sister was, “her sister was unresponsive”. Police were then called to the scene.
In a 911 call obtained by Fox5, the mother could be heard desperately telling dispatchers that her daughter’s lips were “turning blue” and that she was “unconscious”. CPR was also performed.
“It’s devastating, any loss is devastating,” said Altamonte Springs police officer Michelle Montalvo to the news station on Monday. “It’s a three-year-old child, very young, (and) still had a whole life ahead of her”.
The teenager was arrested on manslaughter charges, with police saying they “found probable cause to arrest the sibling” on those charges after conducting interviews.
It was unclear if the teenager had a lawyer or had entered a plea, and any charges will be filed by the state attorney’s office.
Additional reporting by the Associated Press
