A mother who
ignored the pleas of family and friends to take her critically injured daughter to the hospital was charged Wednesday with child neglect, and the mother's boyfriend was charged with abuse.
The
3-year-old child, Mattasia Bowie, died early Saturday at Aurora Sinai Medical Center, according to a criminal complaint, which says charges against the mother,
Mattaya Bowie, 20, and her boyfriend,
Jeremy P. Johnson, 21, may be amended to homicide pending the results of an autopsy.
[...]
Johnson told police he brought Mattasia home from day care around 4 p.m. Sept. 30.
The child, he told police, ran into her bedroom and he heard a "thump." He said, according to the complaint, that he found the girl crying on top of a pile of toys. He said Mattasia wouldn't stop crying, so he slapped her. When that failed to quiet her, he said, he grabbed the front of her shirt and threw her against a wall.
When Bowie returned home from work, he told police, he told her Mattasia had fallen on some toys.
Johnson's brother, however, told police that he heard Johnson beating the child earlier in the week.
Mattaya Bowie's grandmother told police
she saw Mattasia on Friday and told Bowie she believed the child appeared to have suffered a serious head injury. The grandmother begged Bowie to take the child to the hospital and even offered to pay cab fare. Bowie refused.
A friend of the mother told police that she visited the home late Friday, and that Bowie showed her the child's injuries. Bowie noticed that the child was sleeping deeply and that her breathing appeared labored.
Bowie told the friend that the child had taken a sleeping pill.
The friend told police she insisted that Bowie and Johnson call 911.
When they refused, she had Bowie get the child dressed and then drove them to the hospital.
The child was pronounced dead shortly after they arrived.
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