[DiamondSmiles]

A ten-year-old girl has been charged with manslaughter in the death of an infant from Clinton, Maine, WLBZ television reported Friday, citing state police.

Three-month-old Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway died July 8 after being left in the care of a babysitter in Fairfield, about 6 miles from Clinton, according to police.

Police automatically investigate the death of a child under three, reports said.

The state medical examiner's office ruled the death a homicide on Wednesday, WLBZ reported.

"In this case there was some warning signs that we thought very early on," Department of Public Safety Spokesman Steve McCausland told WABI television. "The medical examiners have confirmed that and obviously the case now has been declared a homicide."

"The cause of death is being withheld as the medical examiner continues to work on that aspect," he said, according to WABI.

The ten-year-old, whose name was not released, is in custody of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services, the WLBZ report said.

The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the ten-year-old is the daughter of the babysitter, the Bangor Daily News reported. Greenaway said she works with the woman at a medical facility in Waterville, ME.

The girl is the youngest person in Maine to be charged with manslaughter in at least 25 years, WLBZ reported, citing McCausland. It was not clear whether she was charged as a juvenile or an adult.

She is scheduled to appear in court Oct. 22 with her attorney.

According to earlier reports, emergency responders arrived at the scene six minutes after receiving a 911 call on the night of July 7 saying the baby was not breathing and unresponsive. The baby died later at the hospital, WABI reported.

Data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics show that eighty-eight children between the ages of ten and twelve were arrested on murder and non-negligent manslaughter charges between 2003 and 2009. Of them, fourteen were girls.

During that same time, seven children under the age of ten were arrested for similar crimes; one was a girl.

In 2005, a seven-year-old boy from Kentucky was charged with killing his mother’s boyfriend, according to an Associated Press report at the time. He was too young to be tried as an adult and was, at the time, sequestered away from older adults at a juvenile detention facility.

In 2008, an eight-year-old boy from rural Arizona confessed to fatally shooting his father and his father’s friend.

"I went upstairs and then I saw my dad and then I got the gun and then I fired it at my dad," the boy told prosecutors, according to an ABC News report. "He was on the ground and then I reloaded it."

These juveniles cannot, according to a recent Supreme Court ruling, be sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole.

[soonerpimp]

How sad this is.....Jeez!

[Karma]

It's beyond sad. Bad Seed anyone! There are plenty of killers who are or were children when they start killing.
What's the solution? Can't lock 'em up for life. So, just let them out to roam around and wait for the next victim to cross their path.

Seriously...what do we as a society do to protect the innocent.

[Sharon]

Lock 'em up, at that age they know fine well that what they have done is wrong. UNLESS it was a tragic accident and they can prove so.

[Karma]

Originally Posted by Sharon. ↗

Lock 'em up, at that age they know fine well that what they have done is wrong. UNLESS it was a tragic accident and they can prove so.

I agree Sharon. They should be locked up. Locked up for life. And they should not have the 'holiday camp' type lock up either. It should be prison as prison is meant to be.
But we have a society that still treats them as kids. What am I saying...we treat all murderers like kids in the fact that we treat them like they made a mistake and it won't happen again, so we let them out.
It's better to be a murderer than a victim in most societies today. At least you get a second chance!

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Karma ↗

It's beyond sad. Bad Seed anyone! There are plenty of killers who are or were children when they start killing.
What's the solution? Can't lock 'em up for life. So, just let them out to roam around and wait for the next victim to cross their path.

Seriously...what do we as a society do to protect the innocent.

I wish I could answer that! I really do!

I don't have children, but, I am a caregiver to an 18 month old and an 8 year old! They are never out of my sight in the house or outside when they're in my care!

I proudly where my, "I'm the Crazy Aunt Everyone Warned You About", to school to pick up the older child and hang out at the playground.

I do have that motherly instinct. I wouldn't let kids out of my sight until they were 21, if it were up to me, but, kids have to be kids! It's a rotten world, but, there are some good people, too.

[minka1]

Mary Bell in the making?

[k_dub]

Jeez look after your own child breederbitch

[Megamel29]

I wonder why the adult babysitter wasn't charged with manslaughter also. Leaving the baby with the ten year old should be considered criminal negligence.

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by Megamel29 ↗

I wonder why the adult babysitter wasn't charged with manslaughter also. Leaving the baby with the ten year old should be considered criminal negligence.

Good question! The only reason to leave a ten year old with an infant is if the baby is sleeping or you need an emergency potty break, or you could put the little one in a carrier and take him or her with you.

That may change when the ten year old is charged.