Arlington toddler died after woman hit her with belt to teach her ‘lesson,’ police say
A 2-year-old girl died in Arlington after a woman hit her repeatedly with a belt, police said.
Shamonica Page had been caring for Aniyah Darnell, 2, since August, but told police Saturday she had grown frustrated with the child for going to the bathroom in her clothes. According to an affidavit, Page hit the child with a belt and her hand to teach the girl “a lesson.”
Page told police the girl had a bad injury, described as a burn, on her rear, but she had not taken the girl to the hospital. Instead Page tried “home remedies” to treat the injury and continued to discipline the girl by hitting her, according to the affidavit.
The girl was found unresponsive at the Las Lomas Apartments at 816 Timberlake Drive in southeast Arlington. Police arrived at the apartment just around 1:30 a.m. and found a group of people attempting to leave in a car.
Aniyah died about 2:15 a.m. in the emergency room of Medical City Arlington, according to the Tarrant County medical examiner.
Page was booked into the Arlington Jail on a charge of injury to a child, a first-degree felony. Derick Roberson faces a charge of injury to a child by omission, a third-degree felony, Arlington police Lt. Christopher Cook said.
Two other children at the home were put into the custody of Child Protective Services, police said.
Page had been caring for Aniyah for her biological mother, whom police didn’t identify. The relationship between the girl and the other children wasn’t clear Saturday night.
The Tarrant County medical examiner will determine the cause and manner of her death.
Stephen English contributed to this report.
This story was originally published November 17, 2018 at 6:02 PM.
