(Newser)
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A 10-year-old girl has been charged with manslaughter after the July death of a three-month-old girl her mother was babysitting, reports NBC News. The girl is in the custody of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services; authorities say she is the youngest person in Maine to be charged with manslaughter in at least 25 years. There were "some warning signs ... very early on," said a spokesman for the Department of Public Safety. "The medical examiners have confirmed that and obviously the case now has been declared a homicide."
Though DPS wouldn't share a cause of death, the baby's mother yesterday told the Bangor Daily News that the infant had apparently been given medication also taken by the 10-year-old, according to the toxicology report. "She [also] suffocated her by putting her hands over her face," said the mom, who noted "bruises" all over her child's face. The babysitter apparently worked with the infant's mother. The 10-year-old has an Oct. 22 court appearance.
