11-Year-Old Ohio Girl Faces Murder Charge For Death Of 2-Month-Old Baby

Even if an 11-year-old Ohio girl has been charged with murder for the death of a 2-month-old baby, she cannot be tried as an adult. The youngest age under Ohio laws that a suspect of a grave crime could be tried as an adult is 14.

However, the girl appears to be the youngest on record who has been detained at the Lake County juvenile detention center, according to Chris Simon, administrator of the county’s juvenile court. The typical age of young detainees is 13, said Simon, reports AP.

She will join the 20 kids below 12 accused of murder in 2012 in the growing list by FBI of juvenile offenders involved in grave offences.

Wickliffe Police Chief Randy Ice said at a Monday news conference that the mother of the accused took the victim, Zuri Whitehead of Cleveland, home on Thursday night to give the baby’s mum, Trina Whitehead, some respite.

Whitehead, who has three other children, and the mother of the suspect have been friends for five or six years but are unrelated.

According to Ice, the mother, daughter and the infant were on the sofa on the ground floor where the mother fell asleep at about 3 am on Friday. Her daughter, who took the infant upstairs, woke her up before 4 am when she came down with the baby bleeding and a badly swollen head.

Upon seeing the Zuri’s condition, she called 911. Zuri was airlifted to a children’s trauma centre in Cleveland but died.

Even if the accused can’t be tried as an adult, she could be sentenced to stay in a state Department of Youth Services facility until she reaches 21.

While recent previous cases of family members dying or being injured by gunshots were accidental by nature and partly due to negligence for failure to keep weapons locked, in this case, the injury appears to have been deliberately done by the young girl who shows no sign of remorse.

“I’m not sure she appreciated the gravity of what she did,” Ice commented.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au