CARDELL WILLIAMSON - 20 months (8/14) - / Charged: Baby care owner, Athena Skeeter - Bronx, NY
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CARDELL WILLIAMSON - 20 months (8/14) - / Charged: Baby care owner, Athena Skeeter - Bronx, NY
Bronx woman claims she was ‘wrestling’ with baby before he died at her day care center; police arrest her
Athena Skeeter has been charged with manslaughter and child endangerment in the death of little 20-month-old Cardell Williamson. She allegedly threw him on the floor and stepped on him.
BY Dale Eisinger, Caitlin Nolan, Bill Hutchinson
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Sunday, August 24, 2014, 2:10 PM
Updated: Sunday, August 24, 2014, 2:10 PM
.
Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News
Cardell Williamson, who was 20 months old, died while in the care of Athena Skeeter, who ran a home day care in the Bronx.
A state-licensed day care provider was hit with manslaughter charges Sunday stemming from the death of a Bronx toddler she admitted throwing on the floor and stepping on in a twisted “wrestling” match.
Athena Skeeter, 40, who also goes by Athena Cross, described to cops the gruesome details of how she delivered lethal blows to 20-month-old Cardell Williamson and put him in a bath of scalding water.
“She was supposed to provide child care. All she provided was the death of my child,” Cardell’s devastated father, Carlyle Williamson, 56, told the Daily News on Sunday.
The father said city officials forced him to take his son to Skeeter as part of a back-to-work program he qualified for under city welfare rules.
“She took a presence from my life that can never be replaced,” said the father, a recovering drug addict who won sole custody of Cardell about seven months ago.
Williamson, who is being trained as a landscaper after completing a court-ordered drug education program, said he hasn’t seen his son’s drug-addled mother, Tomasina Cheatham, 31, in months.
Skeeter, who according to records has been a state-licensed day care provider since 2005, was arraigned Sunday in Bronx Criminal Court on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
“I was wrestling with Cardell,” Skeeter told detectives in a blow-by-blow of what occurred Friday afternoon inside her home day care center on College Ave. in Claremont, the Bronx, according to a criminal complaint.
“I flipped him on to the bed. I had a lot of stuff on the bed. I lifted him by one arm and one leg and threw him to the floor. The floor was hardwood. I stepped on his stomach three times,” Skeeter told police. “I didn’t use full force. I then threw my son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach three times.”
She said Cardell suddenly “acted different” and began to throw up, according to the complaint. “His head kept tilting,” Skeeter told cops. “He couldn’t walk on his own.”
Athena Skeeter was charged with manslaughter and child endangerment in the death of 20-month-old Cardell Williamson, who
died while in her care at her home day care.
She said she put the boy in the bathtub and put cold water on his face to revive him.
“I step out of the bathroom to put the bath chair outside of the bathroom,” Skeeter said. “I turned around and Cardell was slumped over with his head in the water and steam was coming out of the water.”
She said the child was unresponsive and had burns on his arms and face.
Cops responding to Skeeter’s 911 call just after 2 p.m. Friday rushed the boy to Bronx Lebanon Hospital in their squad car, but doctors were unable to save him.
The city medical examiner’s office ruled Cardell’s death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to his head and torso.
Skeeter was being held without bail Sunday. She was to return to court Thursday.
State records show no violations were found during the last inspection of Skeeter’s day care on April 18, 2013.
Carlyle Williamson said he was preparing to find a new day care provider after his son suffered several injuries since he started leaving him in Skeeter’s care three or four months ago.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving him in the care of this person, but you have to comply with the rules to be a part of the back-to-work program,” he said.
Carlyle Williamson, Cardell's father, said his son had come home from the day care with bruises in the past.
Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News
He told The News his son came home before with bumps and bruises, but the day care operator always had an excuse.
“Two weeks ago he came home with a bump on his head and split lip. She told me he slipped and fell in the kitchen,” Williamson said. “Another time, he came back all scraped up and she said he fell down some steps because his shoes were too tight. She always had a story for what had happened.”
A source familiar with the back-to-work program run by the Human Resources Administration of the Department of Social Services confirmed the city agency offers clients free day care with city- or state-approved providers.
Williamson’s brother said the death of his nephew was especially heartbreaking because the father worked so hard to get custody and be a responsible dad.
“This man has done a complete (180) in the last four or five years,” James Joyce, 54, said of his brother. “He’s been clean, won’t even take a drink. He’s a great father. He’s been a model citizen.”
Williamson said the city Administration for Children’s Services took custody of Cardell from Cheatham after the baby was born.
He said that when he filed for custody, Cheatham showed up in Bronx Family Court to fight for the child. He said he was awarded custody when she stopped appearing for hearings and disappeared from their son’s life.
“We are deeply saddened and concerned by the news about toddler Cardell Williamson, and our agencies are collaborating with the investigation of his tragic death,” said Maibe Ponet, a spokeswoman for Mayor de Blasio.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/bronx-woman-wrestling-baby-died-article-1.1915081#ixzz3BPxcTF8q
Athena Skeeter has been charged with manslaughter and child endangerment in the death of little 20-month-old Cardell Williamson. She allegedly threw him on the floor and stepped on him.
BY Dale Eisinger, Caitlin Nolan, Bill Hutchinson
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Sunday, August 24, 2014, 2:10 PM
Updated: Sunday, August 24, 2014, 2:10 PM
.
Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News
Cardell Williamson, who was 20 months old, died while in the care of Athena Skeeter, who ran a home day care in the Bronx.
A state-licensed day care provider was hit with manslaughter charges Sunday stemming from the death of a Bronx toddler she admitted throwing on the floor and stepping on in a twisted “wrestling” match.
Athena Skeeter, 40, who also goes by Athena Cross, described to cops the gruesome details of how she delivered lethal blows to 20-month-old Cardell Williamson and put him in a bath of scalding water.
“She was supposed to provide child care. All she provided was the death of my child,” Cardell’s devastated father, Carlyle Williamson, 56, told the Daily News on Sunday.
The father said city officials forced him to take his son to Skeeter as part of a back-to-work program he qualified for under city welfare rules.
“She took a presence from my life that can never be replaced,” said the father, a recovering drug addict who won sole custody of Cardell about seven months ago.
Williamson, who is being trained as a landscaper after completing a court-ordered drug education program, said he hasn’t seen his son’s drug-addled mother, Tomasina Cheatham, 31, in months.
Skeeter, who according to records has been a state-licensed day care provider since 2005, was arraigned Sunday in Bronx Criminal Court on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
“I was wrestling with Cardell,” Skeeter told detectives in a blow-by-blow of what occurred Friday afternoon inside her home day care center on College Ave. in Claremont, the Bronx, according to a criminal complaint.
“I flipped him on to the bed. I had a lot of stuff on the bed. I lifted him by one arm and one leg and threw him to the floor. The floor was hardwood. I stepped on his stomach three times,” Skeeter told police. “I didn’t use full force. I then threw my son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach three times.”
She said Cardell suddenly “acted different” and began to throw up, according to the complaint. “His head kept tilting,” Skeeter told cops. “He couldn’t walk on his own.”
Athena Skeeter was charged with manslaughter and child endangerment in the death of 20-month-old Cardell Williamson, who
died while in her care at her home day care.
She said she put the boy in the bathtub and put cold water on his face to revive him.
“I step out of the bathroom to put the bath chair outside of the bathroom,” Skeeter said. “I turned around and Cardell was slumped over with his head in the water and steam was coming out of the water.”
She said the child was unresponsive and had burns on his arms and face.
Cops responding to Skeeter’s 911 call just after 2 p.m. Friday rushed the boy to Bronx Lebanon Hospital in their squad car, but doctors were unable to save him.
The city medical examiner’s office ruled Cardell’s death a homicide caused by blunt force trauma to his head and torso.
Skeeter was being held without bail Sunday. She was to return to court Thursday.
State records show no violations were found during the last inspection of Skeeter’s day care on April 18, 2013.
Carlyle Williamson said he was preparing to find a new day care provider after his son suffered several injuries since he started leaving him in Skeeter’s care three or four months ago.
“I just didn’t feel comfortable leaving him in the care of this person, but you have to comply with the rules to be a part of the back-to-work program,” he said.
Carlyle Williamson, Cardell's father, said his son had come home from the day care with bruises in the past.
Jeff Bachner for New York Daily News
He told The News his son came home before with bumps and bruises, but the day care operator always had an excuse.
“Two weeks ago he came home with a bump on his head and split lip. She told me he slipped and fell in the kitchen,” Williamson said. “Another time, he came back all scraped up and she said he fell down some steps because his shoes were too tight. She always had a story for what had happened.”
A source familiar with the back-to-work program run by the Human Resources Administration of the Department of Social Services confirmed the city agency offers clients free day care with city- or state-approved providers.
Williamson’s brother said the death of his nephew was especially heartbreaking because the father worked so hard to get custody and be a responsible dad.
“This man has done a complete (180) in the last four or five years,” James Joyce, 54, said of his brother. “He’s been clean, won’t even take a drink. He’s a great father. He’s been a model citizen.”
Williamson said the city Administration for Children’s Services took custody of Cardell from Cheatham after the baby was born.
He said that when he filed for custody, Cheatham showed up in Bronx Family Court to fight for the child. He said he was awarded custody when she stopped appearing for hearings and disappeared from their son’s life.
“We are deeply saddened and concerned by the news about toddler Cardell Williamson, and our agencies are collaborating with the investigation of his tragic death,” said Maibe Ponet, a spokeswoman for Mayor de Blasio.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/bronx-woman-wrestling-baby-died-article-1.1915081#ixzz3BPxcTF8q
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- Job/hobbies : Trying to keep my sanity. Trying to accept that which I cannot change. It's hard.
Re: CARDELL WILLIAMSON - 20 months (8/14) - / Charged: Baby care owner, Athena Skeeter - Bronx, NY
Boy, 12, recounts finding dead 20-month-old in Bronx woman's home day care: 'She told me if I ever told anyone she'd kill me'
Isliel Hayward-Barnes told The News how he helped Athena Skeeter take groceries inside her home the day she admitted to ‘wrestling’ with Cardell Williamson, 20 months, and stepping on his chest. The child later died.
Monday, August 25, 2014, 5:21 PM
Richard Harbus for New York Daily News Isliel Hayward-Barnes, 12, told The News how he helped Athena Skeeter take groceries into her Bronx home on Friday and discovered the body of 20-month-old Cardell Williamson, who had died earlier.
She killed the baby — then went shopping.
A child day care provider apparently went grocery shopping after a baby suffered fatal injuries in her Bronx home.
A 12-year-old neighbor said he saw the lifeless body of 20-month-old Cardell Williamson when he helped Athena Skeeter carry grocery bags into her apartment on Friday afternoon.
Isliel Hayward-Barnes told the Daily News Monday that little Cardell was naked, wet, stiff, cold to the touch and propped on Skeeter’s living room couch. He said the child appeared to have tape on his mouth and scrapes on his face and head.
“I’ve never seen anybody dead. I didn’t realize he was dead,” Isliel, breaking into tears, said after his mother, Shirley Hayward-Barnes, 54, gave The News permission to speak to him.
Isliel lives about a block from Skeeter in the same building where Cardell resided with his father, Carlyle Williamson, 56. While they’re not related, Isliel called Cardell his “cousin.”
The boy said he ran into Skeeter about 2 p.m. on Friday, when she returned to her College Ave. building with bags of groceries. He said Skeeter’s mother, Cora Cross, 65, was sitting in a rocking chair in the kitchen when he entered the apartment.
“I went to help her (Skeeter) with groceries,” Isliel said. “I went into the kitchen and put the bags away and looked into the living room. I saw my little cousin on the couch.
“I went over to him. He wasn’t moving,” he said. “He didn’t move his arms. He was cold and stiff. He had a scrape on his face. He was butt naked and he was wet. He had masking tape on his mouth. He had bruises on his head.”
“I stepped on his stomach three times. I didn’t use full force. I then threw my son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach three times,” Skeeter told detectives, according to a criminal complaint.
She said Cardell threw up, couldn’t walk on his own and his head “kept tilting.”
Skeeter, who is being held without bail, said she put Cardell in the bathtub and splashed cold water on his face. She removed a bath chair from the bathroom and when she came back, Cardell was submerged in a tub of steaming hot water.
Police arrived at Skeeter’s apartment just after 2 p.m. Friday and rushed Cardell in their squad car to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
NYPD officials said the case remains under investigation. They could not immediately confirm if Skeeter went shopping after injuring Cardell, nor would they comment on whether the child had tape over his mouth.
But the manager of Compare Foods on 170th St., around the corner from Skeeter’s home, told The News he saw Skeeter buying groceries in the store, apparently with her son, on Friday afternoon.
“I saw her here. She was with a little boy. He was walking around,” the manager said. “She did not have a baby with her.”
Cardell’s heartbroken father, Williamson, said city officials referred him to Skeeter as part of a back-to-work program run by the Human Resources Administration of the Department of Social Services.
20-month-old Cardell Williamson died while in the care of a Bronx woman running a home day care.
He said Skeeter, 40, yelled at him for snooping around.
“She screamed at me,” Isliel recalled, “She said, ‘Why are you in my living room, you stupid b----? You’re supposed to be in the kitchen.
“She told me if I ever told anyone she’d kill me,” Isliel said. “I hit her with my shoulder and ran out and went to my mom. I told her what happened.”
His mother said she immediately called 911.
“When he came to me it was like he saw a ghost,” Shirley Hayward-Barnes said of her son. “He kept saying to me, ‘He’s not moving, mommy.’ He said it was Cardell. He said, ‘He's not breathing, he’s not moving.”
Skeeter, a state licensed day care provider since 2005, was arraigned Sunday on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
She told detectives that Cardell went unconscious after she spent time “wrestling” with him.
Skeeter — who neighbors said suffered several miscarriages before the birth of her son, who is now about 3 years old — told detectives she “flipped” Cardell on a bed then “lifted him by one arm and one leg and threw him on the floor.”
“I stepped on his stomach three times. I didn’t use full force. I then threw my son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach three times,” Skeeter told detectives, according to a criminal complaint.
She said Cardell threw up, couldn’t walk on his own and his head “kept tilting.”
Skeeter, who is being held without bail, said she put Cardell in the bathtub and splashed cold water on his face. She removed a bath chair from the bathroom and when she came back, Cardell was submerged in a tub of steaming hot water.
Police arrived at Skeeter’s apartment just after 2 p.m. Friday and rushed Cardell in their squad car to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
NYPD officials said the case remains under investigation. They could not immediately confirm if Skeeter went shopping after injuring Cardell, nor would they comment on whether the child had tape over his mouth.
But the manager of Compare Foods on 170th St., around the corner from Skeeter’s home, told The News he saw Skeeter buying groceries in the store, apparently with her son, on Friday afternoon.
“I saw her here. She was with a little boy. He was walking around,” the manager said. “She did not have a baby with her.”
Cardell’s heartbroken father, Williamson, said city officials referred him to Skeeter as part of a back-to-work program run by the Human Resources Administration of the Department of Social Services.
Williamson, a recovering drug addict who was awarded sole custody of Cardell two months ago, said the program offered free day care service from a provider licensed by the state or city.
“I blame the city,” Williamson said Monday. “I was unemployed at one time, so I went to them for help until I could get another job.”
He said he’s been raising Cardell on his own. He said the baby’s mother is a drug addict, who is not in their lives.
“The first thing I go there and they want me to find a child provider, like not (later), right now so I could get these benefits,” the father said. “So they didn't really let me do my homework and find my kid a safe place.”
He said Skeeter began caring for his son three to four months ago.
Mayor de Blasio called the Cardell’s death “a real tragedy” and vowed the city would conduct a full investigation.
“As a parent it’s very painful to me to think about the loss of this child and what this family is going through right now,” de Blasio said Monday.
He said a preliminary investigation showed that while Skeeter was licensed by the state Office of Children and Family Service, her day care operation was supposedly overseen by the state and city.
“So we want to get down to the bottom what happened,” de Blasio said.
He said the city usually offers parents enrolled in the back-to-work program multiple day care providers to choose from.
“If they don’t like the site they’re in we give them a chance to change sites,” de Blasio said. “Our obligation is to make sure each and every site is safe. So we want to find out what happened here and see if we have to make any changes as a result.”
Relatives and neighbors of Skeeter said they were stunned by the charges against her, some saying they’re suspicious of the ghastly details.
“She took care of a lot of kids over the years. All she did was keep to herself, stay in her apartment and look after children,” said Sterling Anderson, 42, who identified himself as Skeeter’s cousin.
“I have eight sons myself that she took care of,” Anderson said. “We never could have imagined something like this could happen.”
Janet Irley, 63, of the Bronx said she’s known Skeeter for more than four decades.
“It’s an accident. They have it wrong,” she said of cops. “She took good care of that boy. She taught that by to walk and talk.”
The Office Children and Family Services revoked Skeeters’ day-care providers license and opened an investigation.
Records show that Skeeter has been cited for multiple minor violation in nine inspections of her facility since 2008 by OCFS and he city health department.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/boy-talks-dead-20-month-old-bronx-home-day-care-article-1.1916368#ixzz3BSyf6Qdh
Isliel Hayward-Barnes told The News how he helped Athena Skeeter take groceries inside her home the day she admitted to ‘wrestling’ with Cardell Williamson, 20 months, and stepping on his chest. The child later died.
Monday, August 25, 2014, 5:21 PM
Richard Harbus for New York Daily News Isliel Hayward-Barnes, 12, told The News how he helped Athena Skeeter take groceries into her Bronx home on Friday and discovered the body of 20-month-old Cardell Williamson, who had died earlier.
She killed the baby — then went shopping.
A child day care provider apparently went grocery shopping after a baby suffered fatal injuries in her Bronx home.
A 12-year-old neighbor said he saw the lifeless body of 20-month-old Cardell Williamson when he helped Athena Skeeter carry grocery bags into her apartment on Friday afternoon.
Isliel Hayward-Barnes told the Daily News Monday that little Cardell was naked, wet, stiff, cold to the touch and propped on Skeeter’s living room couch. He said the child appeared to have tape on his mouth and scrapes on his face and head.
“I’ve never seen anybody dead. I didn’t realize he was dead,” Isliel, breaking into tears, said after his mother, Shirley Hayward-Barnes, 54, gave The News permission to speak to him.
Isliel lives about a block from Skeeter in the same building where Cardell resided with his father, Carlyle Williamson, 56. While they’re not related, Isliel called Cardell his “cousin.”
The boy said he ran into Skeeter about 2 p.m. on Friday, when she returned to her College Ave. building with bags of groceries. He said Skeeter’s mother, Cora Cross, 65, was sitting in a rocking chair in the kitchen when he entered the apartment.
“I went to help her (Skeeter) with groceries,” Isliel said. “I went into the kitchen and put the bags away and looked into the living room. I saw my little cousin on the couch.
“I went over to him. He wasn’t moving,” he said. “He didn’t move his arms. He was cold and stiff. He had a scrape on his face. He was butt naked and he was wet. He had masking tape on his mouth. He had bruises on his head.”
“I stepped on his stomach three times. I didn’t use full force. I then threw my son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach three times,” Skeeter told detectives, according to a criminal complaint.
She said Cardell threw up, couldn’t walk on his own and his head “kept tilting.”
Skeeter, who is being held without bail, said she put Cardell in the bathtub and splashed cold water on his face. She removed a bath chair from the bathroom and when she came back, Cardell was submerged in a tub of steaming hot water.
Police arrived at Skeeter’s apartment just after 2 p.m. Friday and rushed Cardell in their squad car to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
NYPD officials said the case remains under investigation. They could not immediately confirm if Skeeter went shopping after injuring Cardell, nor would they comment on whether the child had tape over his mouth.
But the manager of Compare Foods on 170th St., around the corner from Skeeter’s home, told The News he saw Skeeter buying groceries in the store, apparently with her son, on Friday afternoon.
“I saw her here. She was with a little boy. He was walking around,” the manager said. “She did not have a baby with her.”
Cardell’s heartbroken father, Williamson, said city officials referred him to Skeeter as part of a back-to-work program run by the Human Resources Administration of the Department of Social Services.
20-month-old Cardell Williamson died while in the care of a Bronx woman running a home day care.
He said Skeeter, 40, yelled at him for snooping around.
“She screamed at me,” Isliel recalled, “She said, ‘Why are you in my living room, you stupid b----? You’re supposed to be in the kitchen.
“She told me if I ever told anyone she’d kill me,” Isliel said. “I hit her with my shoulder and ran out and went to my mom. I told her what happened.”
His mother said she immediately called 911.
“When he came to me it was like he saw a ghost,” Shirley Hayward-Barnes said of her son. “He kept saying to me, ‘He’s not moving, mommy.’ He said it was Cardell. He said, ‘He's not breathing, he’s not moving.”
Skeeter, a state licensed day care provider since 2005, was arraigned Sunday on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
She told detectives that Cardell went unconscious after she spent time “wrestling” with him.
Skeeter — who neighbors said suffered several miscarriages before the birth of her son, who is now about 3 years old — told detectives she “flipped” Cardell on a bed then “lifted him by one arm and one leg and threw him on the floor.”
“I stepped on his stomach three times. I didn’t use full force. I then threw my son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach three times,” Skeeter told detectives, according to a criminal complaint.
She said Cardell threw up, couldn’t walk on his own and his head “kept tilting.”
Skeeter, who is being held without bail, said she put Cardell in the bathtub and splashed cold water on his face. She removed a bath chair from the bathroom and when she came back, Cardell was submerged in a tub of steaming hot water.
Police arrived at Skeeter’s apartment just after 2 p.m. Friday and rushed Cardell in their squad car to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
NYPD officials said the case remains under investigation. They could not immediately confirm if Skeeter went shopping after injuring Cardell, nor would they comment on whether the child had tape over his mouth.
But the manager of Compare Foods on 170th St., around the corner from Skeeter’s home, told The News he saw Skeeter buying groceries in the store, apparently with her son, on Friday afternoon.
“I saw her here. She was with a little boy. He was walking around,” the manager said. “She did not have a baby with her.”
Cardell’s heartbroken father, Williamson, said city officials referred him to Skeeter as part of a back-to-work program run by the Human Resources Administration of the Department of Social Services.
Williamson, a recovering drug addict who was awarded sole custody of Cardell two months ago, said the program offered free day care service from a provider licensed by the state or city.
“I blame the city,” Williamson said Monday. “I was unemployed at one time, so I went to them for help until I could get another job.”
He said he’s been raising Cardell on his own. He said the baby’s mother is a drug addict, who is not in their lives.
“The first thing I go there and they want me to find a child provider, like not (later), right now so I could get these benefits,” the father said. “So they didn't really let me do my homework and find my kid a safe place.”
He said Skeeter began caring for his son three to four months ago.
Mayor de Blasio called the Cardell’s death “a real tragedy” and vowed the city would conduct a full investigation.
“As a parent it’s very painful to me to think about the loss of this child and what this family is going through right now,” de Blasio said Monday.
He said a preliminary investigation showed that while Skeeter was licensed by the state Office of Children and Family Service, her day care operation was supposedly overseen by the state and city.
“So we want to get down to the bottom what happened,” de Blasio said.
He said the city usually offers parents enrolled in the back-to-work program multiple day care providers to choose from.
“If they don’t like the site they’re in we give them a chance to change sites,” de Blasio said. “Our obligation is to make sure each and every site is safe. So we want to find out what happened here and see if we have to make any changes as a result.”
Relatives and neighbors of Skeeter said they were stunned by the charges against her, some saying they’re suspicious of the ghastly details.
“She took care of a lot of kids over the years. All she did was keep to herself, stay in her apartment and look after children,” said Sterling Anderson, 42, who identified himself as Skeeter’s cousin.
“I have eight sons myself that she took care of,” Anderson said. “We never could have imagined something like this could happen.”
Janet Irley, 63, of the Bronx said she’s known Skeeter for more than four decades.
“It’s an accident. They have it wrong,” she said of cops. “She took good care of that boy. She taught that by to walk and talk.”
The Office Children and Family Services revoked Skeeters’ day-care providers license and opened an investigation.
Records show that Skeeter has been cited for multiple minor violation in nine inspections of her facility since 2008 by OCFS and he city health department.
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/boy-talks-dead-20-month-old-bronx-home-day-care-article-1.1916368#ixzz3BSyf6Qdh
twinkletoes- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Trying to keep my sanity. Trying to accept that which I cannot change. It's hard.
Re: CARDELL WILLIAMSON - 20 months (8/14) - / Charged: Baby care owner, Athena Skeeter - Bronx, NY
Devastated mom of toddler who died at Bronx daycare speaks out for first time as her son’s accused killer is hit with upgraded murder charges
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, August 28, 2014, 7:56 P
Richard Harbus/(Richard Harbus/for New York Dai Tomasina Cheatham said she was in the process of turning her life around when she heard her 20-month-old son died last week.
The heartbroken mom of a 20-month-old baby who died at a Bronx daycare said Thursday she has been turning her life around in recent weeks in hopes of reclaiming custody of the doomed boy.
“Here I am trying to get myself together so that my son could be back in my life — and he’s gone,” said Tomasina Cheatham, 33, tearfully speaking out for the first time since the death of little Cardell Williamson.
“My family is destroyed.”
Daycare provider Athena Skeeter, 40, admitted to cops she threw the boy on the hardwood floor while “wrestling,” stepped on him, tossed her 3-year-old son on him and then submerged him in a tub of steaming water on Aug. 22, according to a criminal complaint.
After Skeeter called 911, cops rushed the boy to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where he couldn’t be saved.
Richard Harbus/(Richard Harbus/for New York Dai Family of Cardell Williamson gathered at Bronx Criminal Court Thursday for a hearing for the child's accused killer, Athena Skeeter.
Charges against her were upgraded to murder Thursday.
“I just want this lady to pay for what she did to my child,” said Cheatham, who is seven-months pregnant and has two older kids who live with her sister.
She said she’s been in voluntary drug rehab the last month.
“I wasn’t on the streets,” she said. “I was in a program doing what I have to do to get my son back. I love my son.”
facebook/facebook Skeeter was hit with upgraded charges of murder Thursday after she was indicted in Cardell's death.
More than a dozen other relatives of the slain boy packed a Bronx courtroom Thursday, hoping to hear from the baby’s accused killer, who disappointed them by waiving her right to appear.
Skeeter, who is being held without bail on Rikers Island, sent her lawyer instead for the brief appearance in Bronx Criminal Court.
“I just want to see her,” said Carlyle Williamson, 56, the boy’s father.
“I just want to see her facial expression. I really want to ask the big question — why? I’m going back home with this question of why.”
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News Skeeter allegedly told cops she was "wrestling" with little Cardell on Aug. 22.
Prosecutors notified the court the case was being presented to a grand jury during the brief hearing.
“She has the right to remain silent,” Skeeter's lawyer, Michael Beatrice, told reporters after the hearing.
“You can’t make someone speak — it’s a part of the Constitution.”
Hours later, the grand jury handed down the upgraded murder charge against Skeeter, who had been arrested on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
Richard Harbus/(Richard Harbus/for New York Dai Family, including the boy's father Carlyle Williamson, said they wanted to see Skeeter in person.
Skeeter is due back in court Oct. 20.
The tragic tot’s father, a recovering addict who had full custody of Cardell, says city officials mandated he leave the baby at daycare as part of a back-to-work program he qualified for under city welfare rules.
Skeeter was stripped of her state license to run a daycare Monday.
“They should do more investigations on the daycares,” the boy’s mother said Thursday.
There is a wake planned for little Cardell in the Bronx on Friday and a funeral service on Saturday.
“It's just a tragedy,” said the boy’s uncle, Jamal Cheatham, who also attended the hearing Thursday.
“We’re living in a time where anything can happen.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/mom-toddler-died-bronx-daycare-speaks-time-article-1.1920851#ixzz3Bkn3I4la
Tomasina Cheatham, 33, was in tears Thursday as she spoke to reporters for the first time since her 20-month-old son, Cardell Williamson, died at a daycare center on Aug. 22. The child's accused killer, Athena Skeeter, 40, was hit with upgraded murder charges Thursday.
BY Denis Slattery, Caitlin Nolan, Barry PaddockNEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Thursday, August 28, 2014, 7:56 P
Richard Harbus/(Richard Harbus/for New York Dai Tomasina Cheatham said she was in the process of turning her life around when she heard her 20-month-old son died last week.
The heartbroken mom of a 20-month-old baby who died at a Bronx daycare said Thursday she has been turning her life around in recent weeks in hopes of reclaiming custody of the doomed boy.
“Here I am trying to get myself together so that my son could be back in my life — and he’s gone,” said Tomasina Cheatham, 33, tearfully speaking out for the first time since the death of little Cardell Williamson.
“My family is destroyed.”
Daycare provider Athena Skeeter, 40, admitted to cops she threw the boy on the hardwood floor while “wrestling,” stepped on him, tossed her 3-year-old son on him and then submerged him in a tub of steaming water on Aug. 22, according to a criminal complaint.
After Skeeter called 911, cops rushed the boy to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where he couldn’t be saved.
Richard Harbus/(Richard Harbus/for New York Dai Family of Cardell Williamson gathered at Bronx Criminal Court Thursday for a hearing for the child's accused killer, Athena Skeeter.
Charges against her were upgraded to murder Thursday.
“I just want this lady to pay for what she did to my child,” said Cheatham, who is seven-months pregnant and has two older kids who live with her sister.
She said she’s been in voluntary drug rehab the last month.
“I wasn’t on the streets,” she said. “I was in a program doing what I have to do to get my son back. I love my son.”
facebook/facebook Skeeter was hit with upgraded charges of murder Thursday after she was indicted in Cardell's death.
More than a dozen other relatives of the slain boy packed a Bronx courtroom Thursday, hoping to hear from the baby’s accused killer, who disappointed them by waiving her right to appear.
Skeeter, who is being held without bail on Rikers Island, sent her lawyer instead for the brief appearance in Bronx Criminal Court.
“I just want to see her,” said Carlyle Williamson, 56, the boy’s father.
“I just want to see her facial expression. I really want to ask the big question — why? I’m going back home with this question of why.”
Jeff Bachner/for New York Daily News Skeeter allegedly told cops she was "wrestling" with little Cardell on Aug. 22.
Prosecutors notified the court the case was being presented to a grand jury during the brief hearing.
“She has the right to remain silent,” Skeeter's lawyer, Michael Beatrice, told reporters after the hearing.
“You can’t make someone speak — it’s a part of the Constitution.”
Hours later, the grand jury handed down the upgraded murder charge against Skeeter, who had been arrested on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
Richard Harbus/(Richard Harbus/for New York Dai Family, including the boy's father Carlyle Williamson, said they wanted to see Skeeter in person.
Skeeter is due back in court Oct. 20.
The tragic tot’s father, a recovering addict who had full custody of Cardell, says city officials mandated he leave the baby at daycare as part of a back-to-work program he qualified for under city welfare rules.
Skeeter was stripped of her state license to run a daycare Monday.
“They should do more investigations on the daycares,” the boy’s mother said Thursday.
There is a wake planned for little Cardell in the Bronx on Friday and a funeral service on Saturday.
“It's just a tragedy,” said the boy’s uncle, Jamal Cheatham, who also attended the hearing Thursday.
“We’re living in a time where anything can happen.”
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/mom-toddler-died-bronx-daycare-speaks-time-article-1.1920851#ixzz3Bkn3I4la
twinkletoes- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
- Job/hobbies : Trying to keep my sanity. Trying to accept that which I cannot change. It's hard.
Re: CARDELL WILLIAMSON - 20 months (8/14) - / Charged: Baby care owner, Athena Skeeter - Bronx, NY
POLICE: NYC WOMAN SAID SHE STEPPED ON TODDLER WHO DIED
AP
Sunday, August 24, 2014
NEW YORK -- A child care worker charged with killing a toddler in her home told police she threw the boy to the floor and stepped on him three times, and after that, he could no longer walk on his own, authorities said.
Athena Skeeter, 40, was arraigned Sunday on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
The city's Administration for Children's Services did not immediately respond to a message seeking information on Skeeter, who police said was a licensed child care worker.
According to a court document, Skeeter told police she had been wrestling Friday with 20-month-old Cardell Williamson at her Bronx home after his father dropped him off that morning. She said the child was on the bed when she lifted him by one arm and one leg and put him on the floor. She told police she stepped on his stomach but "didn't use full force."
Skeeter said she then put her son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach.
"Cardell acted different after that," Skeeter said, according to the court document. "He threw up. His head kept tilting."
She said she put him in a bathtub and put cold water on his face, and then stepped out for a short time. When she came back, Streeter told police, Cardell's head was in the water and steam was coming up. She said he had burns on his arm and face.
Police responding to a 911 call found Cardell lying on a bed, struggling to breathe. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
Skeeter was in custody and was due back in court Thursday. No attorney information was available for her.
http://6abc.com/news/police-woman-said-she-stepped-on-toddler-who-died/279495/
AP
Sunday, August 24, 2014
NEW YORK -- A child care worker charged with killing a toddler in her home told police she threw the boy to the floor and stepped on him three times, and after that, he could no longer walk on his own, authorities said.
Athena Skeeter, 40, was arraigned Sunday on charges of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
The city's Administration for Children's Services did not immediately respond to a message seeking information on Skeeter, who police said was a licensed child care worker.
According to a court document, Skeeter told police she had been wrestling Friday with 20-month-old Cardell Williamson at her Bronx home after his father dropped him off that morning. She said the child was on the bed when she lifted him by one arm and one leg and put him on the floor. She told police she stepped on his stomach but "didn't use full force."
Skeeter said she then put her son on top of Cardell and stepped on his stomach.
"Cardell acted different after that," Skeeter said, according to the court document. "He threw up. His head kept tilting."
She said she put him in a bathtub and put cold water on his face, and then stepped out for a short time. When she came back, Streeter told police, Cardell's head was in the water and steam was coming up. She said he had burns on his arm and face.
Police responding to a 911 call found Cardell lying on a bed, struggling to breathe. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
The medical examiner ruled his death a homicide.
Skeeter was in custody and was due back in court Thursday. No attorney information was available for her.
http://6abc.com/news/police-woman-said-she-stepped-on-toddler-who-died/279495/
mom_in_il- Supreme Commander of the Universe With Cape AND Tights AND Fancy Headgear
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