"Infant Jane" AVERY - 1 yo - Shreveport LA

A pregnant Shreveport woman whose 1-year-old daughter died Friday
from injuries police say are consistent with abuse has been charged with
killing the child.Alasundria Avery, 19,
was booked into Shreveport City Jail the same day and charged with
second-degree murder. Avery is eight months pregnant with another child,
a friend says.
"The injuries were consistent with severe beatings and abuse," said Jim Taliaferro, Shreveport Police Department spokesman.
At
about 4:30 p.m. Friday, Shreveport police officers responded to a
report of a child injury at Avery's home in the 3100 block of Metal
Street. Shortly after they arrived at the Lakeside area home, officers
learned the 1-year-old girl, who was unconscious and unresponsive, had
been taken to LSU Hospital Shreveport. She was pronounced dead a short
time later, according to a press release.
Investigators
determined the infant's grave injuries were caused by physical abuse,
and further investigation suggested Avery was the culprit.
The
death of the baby girl, who celebrated her first birthday Oct. 1, marks
the second Shreveport child in as many days to die of suspected abuse.
On Thursday, police discovered the body of 2-year-old Ja'marsay
Summerfield in a storage closet adjacent to the family's Cedar Grove
home. His mother's boyfriend, Tristen Anderson, 26, was charged with
first-degree murder.
At
least two local children, including 5-year-old Celeste Lowe who was
killed in January, have died as a result of abuse or neglect since the
beginning of the year, the Louisiana Department of Child and Family
services reports. Statewide, investigations have confirmed abuse or
neglect in the deaths of at least 11 children so far this year.
Trey
Williams, DCFS spokesman, confirmed the agency was investigating the
city's latest child deaths but could not say, due to privacy concerns,
if either family had prior contact with the agency. Additionally, DCFS
will be evaluating ways to help Shreveport-Bossier City area residents
identify and report possible child abuse, Williams said.
"The
death of any child is tough on a community but when you have two deaths
in a two-day period — that has a huge impact," Williams said. "As an
agency, we have to look to see what tools we can provide the community
that a tragedy like this does not happen on a regular occurrence."
On
Saturday afternoon, the street where Avery and her daughter lived was
quiet. Young children played at the end of the block — their laughter a
grim reminder of the future a little girl will never have.
Neighbors
said they didn't know that just a day earlier Avery's baby died. But a
friend, contacted through the social networking site Facebook, said she
was surprised to learn Avery was in trouble for possibly beating her
daughter.
"I have
never seen her do that (hit her daughter)," said Teresa Fisher, 19, who
attends Grambling State University. "This is all shocking to me. She was
always quiet, she always said she was going to raise her daughter
right."
http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20111023/NEWS03/110230367/Mother-charged-beating-death-1-year-old?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFRONTPAGE