A 19-year-old Delaware day care worker is accused of suffocating a 4-month-old girl under her care because the child would not stop crying.
Dejoynay Ferguson, of New Castle, is charged with first degree murder in the death of the infant at the Little People Child Development Center in Bear, Delaware, the Delaware State Police said.
Police responded to the day care around 10:35 a.m. Thursday after a report of an unresponsive child. The girl was rushed to Christiana Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Surveillance video at the day care captured Ferguson picking up the girl from the floor by the front of her shirt and then placing her on a changing table, according to an affidavit of probable cause. The video then allegedly shows Ferguson putting on latex gloves and covering the child's mouth and nose for more than three minutes.
The girl was still moving when Ferguson placed her on the changing table, the affidavit said. After the three minutes, she was motionless.
Ferguson told investigators she killed the girl because she was acting "fussy" and would not stop crying, the police document said.
Investigators said Ferguson waited about 20 minutes until she notified the day care center's owner that the infant wasn't moving and someone called 911.
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It was not immediately clear if Ferguson had an attorney who could speak on her behalf.
The Office of Childcare Licensing suspended the license of the day care indefinitely as a result of the investigation.
