A 13-year-old babysitter was charged with manslaughter in the death of a 2½-year-old girl Saturday in the Oneida County village of Yorkville, authorities said.

The toddler, Melissa Calhoun, was found dead by her mother about 8:30 a.m. Saturday morning, said Oneida County Coroner Steven Wolanin. The 13-year-old had been watching the child alone overnight, he said.

The babysitter was charged with second-degree manslaughter and sent to a juvenile facility, state police said. The case will be handled in Family Court, troopers said.

The toddler died of blunt-force trauma to the back of her head, Wolanin said. The assault caused bleeding inside her head that led to her death. She appeared to have died hours before the mother came home, he said, but was officially pronounced dead about 9 a.m. Saturday. Wolanin wasn’t sure where the mother was during the night.

Authorities aren’t sure how the toddler’s injuries occurred, but Wolanin said he didn’t think a weapon would have had to been used.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.s...ysitter_c.html
[...]
On Sunday afternoon at about 4 p.m., a state trooper was posted outside the Ney Avenue crime scene. He said investigators were inside with family members.

A woman leaned against a truck parked in the driveway, talking on a cell phone and crying.

Investigator Chad Tangorra came outside briefly to say the 13-year-old was a family friend who had been babysitting.

He and other members of the state police would not release the name or gender of the 13-year-old suspect.

Tangorra would not say whether Melissa's mother, Irene Calhoun, was in the house when the incident happened, but did say the mother was home when the child was found to be dead.
[...]

The autopsy showed Melissa died of blunt-force trauma to the back of the head, Oneida County Coroner Stephen Wolanin said Sunday.

There was no evidence of other injuries, such as bone breaks or fractures, Wolanin said.
[...]

Irene Calhoun attended Grace Episcopal Church in Utica Sunday morning, church officials said.

Organist and choirmaster Bruce Smith said Irene Calhoun had been a member of his choir for one season a few years ago, but had to stop because she had so many other commitments.

Smith said as soon as Irene Calhoun entered the church Sunday, she was “immediately surrounded by lots of people in the church who knew her.”
[...]

Police have said the 13-year-old had been charged with second-degree manslaughter and was transported to an undisclosed detention facility.

Second-degree manslaughter is a charge applied when a person recklessly causes the death of another person. It is not premeditated.
http://www.uticaod.com/latestnews/x1...orkville-child

Mom's MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/eneri012181
Pics of Melissa as a baby but no current ones.

Articles eslewhere indicate the babysitter was a 13-year-old boy.