NAIRA BENNETT - 4 yo (5/2014)/ Charged: Babysitter; Sakita Covington - Newark NJ

Newark girl, 4, dies after being left unattended in apartment; babysitter charged

By Jeff Goldman/The Star-Ledger
on May 08, 2014 at 1:32 PM
updated May 09, 2014 at 7:14 AM

NEWARK — The babysitter of a 4-year-old Newark girl who died hours after being left home alone with three other children has been arrested, authorities said.

Naira Bennett, 4, was pronounced dead at University hospital at 7:11 p.m. Wednesday. She was found unresponsive in an apartment on North Munn Avenue at about 10:45 a.m, according to a release issued by the Essex County Prosecutor's Office.

Sakita Covington, 38, who also lives in the Bradley Court complex, was charged with four counts of endangering the welfare of a child and one count of aggravated assault.

An autopsy will be performed to determine how the girl died, officials said. Neighbors said the young girl was reaching for a toy underneath a bed when it fell on her.

The other children were not harmed, according to Katherine Carter, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office. Each is under the age of 4, she added.

Carter said she was not authorized to disclose where the babysitter was or why she might have left the apartment.

Iesha Wiggins and Lakeya Harris, both 19, live next door to the apartment where Bennett died. They said Covington lives in the apartment, and is married with two young children of her own. Bennett's family does not live in the apartment, they said.

Harris said police and rescue personnel swarmed the building on Wednesday morning, and some of the children who were left unattended may have been Covington's own. Both said they were saddened by what happened, and did not know where Covington allegedly went or why she would leave four young children inside the apartment unattended.

"I think it's irresponsible, stupid," said Harris. "What fool leaves a little kid at the house all by himself."

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2014/05/newark_girl_4_dies_after_being_left_unattended_in_apartment.html

Newark 4-year-old was trapped in folding bed after baby sitter allegedly abandoned her, sources say

By James Queally/The Star-Ledger
on May 08, 2014 at 6:56 PM
updated May 09, 2014 at 4:51 PM


Sakita Covington

NEWARK — A 4-year-old Newark girl who was left alone by a baby sitter died after a folding bed or futon closed around her head and body, law enforcement sources told The Star-Ledger today.

Naira Bennett was one of four children found inside an apartment at the Bradley Court housing complex in the city’s West Ward on Wednesday morning, acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray said today.

Police were called to the apartment around 10:45 a.m. and found Naira unresponsive, Murray said. The girl was rushed to University Hospital where she died at 7 p.m., Murray said. Prosecutors are awaiting the results of an autopsy before announcing an official cause of death, Murray said.

Sakita Covington, the 38-year-old baby sitter who lived in the apartment, has been charged with child endangerment and aggravated assault, Murray said. She is being held at the Essex County jail in Newark, prosecutors said.

"I think it’s irresponsible, stupid," said Lakeya Harris, a 19-year-old neighbor, said today. "What fool leaves a little kid at the house all by herself?"

Covington allegedly left four children in her care alone in the apartment because she had to pick up one of her sons from school, according to three law enforcement sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the case.

While she was gone, Naira became trapped inside a folding bed or futon, which slammed closed around her, the sources said.

None of the other children, all of whom were younger than 4, was harmed, said Anthony Ambrose, the prosecutor’s chief of detectives.
Neighbors said Naira’s family does not live at the apartment complex.

Harris and Iesha Wiggins, both of whom live next door to Covington, said they were home Wednesday morning when a crush of police and rescue personnel descended on the complex.

"We saw a whole lot of police surrounding the building," said Wiggins, also 19. "Everybody was upset by the whole situation."

Covington lived in the apartment with her husband and two children, the neighbors said. One of the four children she left in the apartment was her son, the sources said.

No one answered the door at Covington’s apartment this afternoon and attempts to reach Naira’s family were unsuccessful.

Bradley Court, a complex of three-story buildings surrounding a courtyard and basketball court, borders a school on North Munn Avenue. The complex has a history of drug activity and violence. Last summer, a spray of gunfire killed a mother of four in the courtyard.

The girl’s death left city leaders shaken.

"It’s a tragedy. It is an absolute tragedy and you know my heart goes out to the family and even to the baby sitter. I’m sure there must have been some reason she wasn’t there," said West Ward Councilman Ronald Rice Jr. "It’s a tragedy that it happened as a result of no supervision, but god only knows why that woman was forced to leave there. It’s a sad day for the city."

http://www.nj.com/essex/index.ssf/2014/05/newark_4-year-old_was_trapped_in_folding_bed_after_babysitter_allegedly_abandoned_her_sources_say.html