Mom charged in death of 2-year-old daughter in St. Paul
Updated: Jan. 11, 7:29 p.m. | Posted: Jan. 10, 1:19 p.m.
Ramsey County prosecutors on Monday charged a St. Paul woman with second-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Sunday.
According to the criminal complaint, 30-year-old Caishia Lee admitted to officers that she'd lost her temper with the toddler and "I just kept hitting her." Lee allegedly admitted punching the girl because she wouldn't stop crying before putting her in a closet.
Police said the father called the Police Department’s nonemergency number early Sunday morning and said something about needing a crisis officer before hanging up. Police tried calling back but received no answer and sent officers to the residence on East Third Street in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood.
Police arrived about 2:30 a.m., and the father told officers that his daughter was on the back porch. They located the girl unconscious and unresponsive; paramedics arrived and pronounced her dead. After being questioned, investigators arrested and booked the girl's mother and father into the Ramsey County Jail on Sunday.
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It’s the city first homicide of the year.
“It's heartbreaking. It's extremely tragic," St. Paul police spokesperson Mike Ernster said.
Five other children in the home ranging from 8 months to 11 years were put in protective custody.
Lee said she'd just gotten her kids back from foster care about a year ago, and the family had been living in a shelter until recently. She also told investigators that she'd lived in foster care herself as a teenager, and had been physically and sexually abused.
MPR News reporter Matt Sepic contributed to this report.