CHARLENNI FERRIERA - 10 yo (2009)/ Charged: Father; Domingo Ferreira (deceased-suicide) and Mother; Margarita Garabito - Philadelphia PA

Philadelphia police are investigating the
death of a 10-year-old girl in the city’s Feltonville section as a
possible case of abuse.

Philadelphia authorities say the child was found unconscious in her
home Wednesday morning, in the 4700 block of C Street, and taken to St.
Christopher's Hospital. She was declared dead about 11 a.m.
Hospital officials contacted authorities because the girl had numerous injuries.
Homicide detectives have been questioning the girl's family, including her father, step-mother and an older step-brother.
An autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday.

According to sources, Philadelphia Police are investigating the death of a 10-year-old girl.

An ambulance was called to a home in the 4700
block of C. Street in Feltonville at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday.

The child's mother told police that the girl, identified as Charlenny
Ferreira, fell and hit her head Tuesday evening and that she was found
unresponsive Wednesday morning.

Investigators said the girl was taken to the hospital, but was later
pronounced dead of an apparent brain injury. Sources said the victim
may have also been sexually assaulted.

Sources said investigators are questioning the child's father, step-mother and other children found inside the home.

Investigators are awaiting the results of an autopsy.

According to sources, the Department of Human Services had reportedly been to the home in the past.

The investigation is ongoing.

Homicide detectives are investigating the death, yesterday, possibly as
a result of abuse, of a 10-year-old girl in North Philadelphia.Investigators
have been questioning the family of Charlenni Ferreira since her death
at St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and were awaiting the
results of an autopsy.Capt. James Clark, commander of the Homicide Unit, had been expected to
release new details in the case this afternoon, but a 1 p.m. news
conference was postponed "until further notice."Medics were called at 8:37 a.m. yesterday to a home in the 4700 block
of C Street in Feltonville, where Charlenni was found unresponsive in
the bathroom by her stepmother, authorities said.Police said the family reported that Charlenni had complained of not
feeling well the night before, and had awakened feeling dizzy and
nauseated.Alicia Taylor, spokeswoman for the Department of Human Services, said
last night the hospital had contacted her agency, which is
investigating.Taylor said there was at least one other child in the home and that the
agency was trying to determine whether that child needed to be removed.
She said she was not allowed to say whether the agency had been
involved with the family before.

Philadelphia Police have charged a father and stepmother with the murder of a 10-year-old Feltonville girl.

A family member reportedly told police the girl, identified as
Charleeni Ferreria, fell and hit her head Tuesday evening and that she
was found unresponsive Wednesday morning.

Investigators said an ambulance responded to the child's home in the
4700 block of C. Street at about 10:30 a.m. Wednesday and transported
her to the hospital. She was later pronounced dead of an apparent brain
injury.

Sources say she was suffering from a broken wrist, ribs and hip, and
had an 8 inch gap in her skull that was stuffed with gauze and covered
by a weave. Sources said she was also sexually assaulted and mutilated.

"We have no theory behind why she was treated like this at this point," Captain James Clark explained.

Despite her injuries and repeated abuse, sources say Ferreria made her
way to school every day and kept perfect attendance. No one at the
school was apparently aware of the terrible pain the little girl was
enduring.

Ferreria's father and stepmother were charged Thursday with her murder
and endangering the welfare of a child. Sources told CBS3 that the
stepmother confessed to the murder.

"This is one of the worst cases I have seen, it's unconscionable to
think that someone can do this to a 10-year-old little girl," Capt.
Clark said.

According to sources, the Department of Human Services had been alerted
in 2007 by school officials of possible abuse; the DHS investigation
was discontinued after a doctor certified that she was not being abused.

DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose released this statement to the media on Thursday:

"I am deeply saddened by the tragic death of 10 year old Charlenny
Ferreira. Unfortunately state confidentiality laws prohibit us from
disclosing any case related information to the public. However as the
facts of this case become known to DHS, we will have lots of work to do
in looking at the recent events that could have led to or have
prevented this tragedy. DHS is fully cooperating with police and the
district attorney's office as they investigate this case."

The investigation is ongoing.

NEIGHBORS OF Charlenni Ferreira said they never saw signs to suggest that she was being abused by her family.
Then again, they rarely saw the 10-year-old girl outside her Feltonville home.
The glimpses they did get of Charlenni in recent years suggested a
youngster who was "sick" in some way. She was quiet and thin, they
said. She walked with a limp and had a swollen face.
But Charlenni's situation apparently was far worse than neighbors
imagined. The fifth-grader at Feltonville Intermediate School suffered
years of horrific, torturous abuse at the hands of those closest to
her, police said.
On Wednesday, she died of a lung infection caused by a lack of
medical care, hours after she was found unconscious in her home on C
Street near Louden, said Sgt. Ray Evers, a police spokesman.
Yesterday, the District Attorney's Office approved charges of
murder, endangering the welfare of a child and related offenses against
the girl's father, Domingo "Anibal" Ferreira, 53, and stepmother,
Margarita Garabito, 43.
At a news conference, Homicide Capt. James Clark called the alleged child abuse "one of the worst cases that I have ever seen."
He confirmed afterward that Charlenni had been sexually assaulted, but did not elaborate.
Later in the day, police officials said a medical examiner found
injuries to Charlenni's vaginal and anal areas. No sexual-assault
charges have been filed against Charlenni's father or stepmother.
Doctors from St. Christopher's Hospital for Children and the Medical
Examiner's Office noticed "several old and new injuries" on the girl,
including severe head trauma, bruising of her back, leg and torso, a
recent fractured hip bone and injuries, police said.
They said that Charlenni had a gash on her head that had been covered with a hair weave.
Clark said that Charlenni's two stepbrothers, ages 16 and 19, who
also lived in the house, were questioned and released yesterday. TV
news reports said that the city's Department of Human Services had
investigated the family in 2007 but had closed the case after the
girl's injuries appeared not to be suspicious.
DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose said in a written statement
yesterday: "I am deeply saddened by the tragic death . . . [A]s the
facts of this case become known to DHS, we will have lots of work to do
in looking at the recent events that could have led to or have
prevented this tragedy."
Domingo Ferreira had been working for about four years as an
independent driver for High Class Limousine, on Wyoming Avenue near C
Street, a block from the family's home.
Company owner Yolanda Deliz-Arroyo said that Ferreira was "always a
happy person" and an "excellent" worker. "We're shocked with what
happened," she said at her office yesterday.
The Ferreiras would have parties at their two-story house, which was
clean with nice furniture and a nice entertainment system, she said.
She said that whenever she saw Charlenni, the girl appeared to be "sick" and "always quiet."
"She would always be in her own little world," Deliz-Arroyo said.
"She would say hello. She smiled. [But] I never saw her active."
Charlenni moved as if she had "like a limping problem."
She said that Domingo Ferreira was from the Dominican Republic and had returned a few days ago from that country.
Dozens of Feltonville residents gathered for a somber vigil outside the Ferreira house last night.
Candles and pink "Snow White" balloons adorned a small table, and a
white placard a few feet away reminded people to bring flowers and
stuffed animals.
The memorial was made all the more sad when it became clear that
many of those in attendance had no memories or personal stories of
Charlenni to share.
"It's terrible. Nobody knew her, or her family, for that matter,"
said Angie McClain, who lives a few doors away from the Ferreiras.
"If we knew that DHS had been investigating them, we could've looked after her."
Some neighbors said that Charlenni had come to the city about five
years ago from Puerto Rico, where her biological mother is believed to
be now. It was not clear if Domingo Ferreira had previously also lived
in Puerto Rico.
Ricardo Rodriguez, who lives next door to the Ferreiras, said he was
shocked when he learned of the allegations against the girl's parents.
"They were like a normal family," he said.
"One time I asked about her, and they said she just got sick. They didn't say anything else about it."
Wanda Torres, 37, who lived next door and whose porch abutted
Ferreira's, said that Charlenni appeared to be happy, but that things
had seemed to change during the last year.
"She was walking funny," Torres said, adding that she didn't see the
girl outside often. She said that she would speak with the stepmother
and that she appeared to be a good person.
But if the allegations of abuse are correct, "let God punish her,"
Torres said. "A woman like her, that was the devil in the body of the
angel."

A school nurse who suspected in May something was physically wrong
with 10-year-old Charleeni Ferreira asked her parents for her medical
records and told them to take the girl to a doctor, a law enforcement
official said yesterday.
The involvement of the nurse indicates that officials suspected
months ago something was wrong with Charleeni, a Philadelphia fifth
grader who died Wednesday after suffering what authorities described as
horrific and systematic abuse. Her parents have been charged with
murder and the investigation continues.
It is unclear what happened after the nurse at Feltonville
Intermediate School raised the alarm. In September, when Charleeni
returned to school, the nurse again demanded the family seek medical
help for the child, according to the official, who spoke on condition
of anonymity.
School records indicate the family complied and took the girl to a doctor.
But there is no indication that the doctor found anything suspect,
according to the law enforcement official who reviewed the school
record.
Charleeni died from an infection caused by untreated broken ribs
that collapsed her lungs. The medical examiner said she had numerous
healed and fresh injuries, including broken bones and a severe head
gash that was months old and that had been stuffed with gauze and
concealed with a hair weave.
Schools are mandatory reporters of child abuse and would have been
obligated under the law to contact DHS if they had received information
indicating there was abuse.
How much officials knew about Charleeni's condition in the months
leading up to her death is critical because of previous reports of
abuse.
In October 2006, a nurse at Clara Barton Elementary School called DHS to say she suspected the girl was being abused.
DHS spent five months providing services to Charleeni's family but
after two medical examinations failed to confirm the abuse allegations
the case was closed in March 2007.
Fernando Gallard, a spokesman for the district, said yesterday he could not comment on specifics in the case.
"The district is doing its utmost to cooperate in the ongoing
investigation of the death of our student," Gallard said in a
statement. "The district is unable to comment any further on this case
due to the ongoing investigation and the privacy rights of the student
and her family."
It is district practice to note a student's involvement in an active
DHS case in his or her permanent education record, Gallard said. Even
if the DHS investigation is closed, the notation remains.
Charleeni's father, Domingo Ferreira, 53, and stepmother, Margarita
Garabito, 43, were charged Thursday with murder and endangering the
welfare of a child. Authorities said Charleeni suffered "ongoing
torture."
Officials said Charleeni also had injuries that showed she had been
sexually abused but no charges have been filed involving sex crimes.
Police were awaiting DNA test results, which could take several days.
DHS Commissioner Anne Marie Ambrose met with a school official
yesterday to discuss how the department and the school district could
work more closely to ensure children who suffer abuse have a safe way
to report allegations.
"We were concerned about news reports we heard that kids knew about
the abuse and were told not to tell," Ambrose said. "We want to let
children know there are safe places for them to go to tell about abuse."
Outside the Ferreira family home yesterday, neighbors filled the porch with flowers, photos, candles, and balloons.
Neighbor Maritza Fabian said yesterday that she and others had asked
about Charleeni's injuries but that Garabito always had an answer ready.
"When I first met her, she used to walk fine, a normal child," said
Fabian, whose children attended school with Charleeni and who lives
near the family's rented home on C Street. "In a year and a half, we
noticed that she was walking like handicapped. We asked the mom, and
she said she had a sickness and no one could figure it out."
They said they never expected to see any of the family - including
Charleeni's two stepbrothers, ages 16 and 19, whom authorities said did
not show signs of abuse - in the neighborhood again.
"If they did ever come near here, there's going to be a riot," said
Lillian Fabian of Juniata, who stopped by the memorial yesterday. She
is not related to Maritza Fabian.
A cold, light rain fell last night on a few dozen attendees at a vigil for Charleeni outside her home.
An older man identified as a relative of the dead girl showed up to
check on the house and endured curse-filled screams in Spanish from two
women next door who were furious that he had dared to show his face.
The man left and police arrived later to make sure emotions didn't run
out of control.
Other neighbors remembered Charleeni moving in with the family a few
years ago and appearing vibrant, but then eventually suffering a
noticeable decline that her family had attributed to a disease. She
began to wear a wig and makeup on her increasingly swollen face. She
complained that her ribs hurt when she played.
"She would shiver walking up the steps" to her house, as if in pain,
neighbor Shanel Jones, 24, said. The girl's stepmother "would scream at
her to hurry up and get in," Jones said.
Emanie Feliciano, 9, who visits Jones' home daily and played with
Charleeni, remembered the girl saying recently, "I'm going to have a
birthday. Well, maybe not."
"What 10-year-old is going to say that?" asked Emanie's mother, Leslie Santiago, 28.

Neighbors on the Feltonville block where Charlenni Ferreira lived said
yesterday that they planned to keep a constant vigil in remembrance of
the girl until Oct. 30, which would have been her 11th birthday."We wanted to do that for two reasons: One, so that we won't forget and
then by next week it will be old news, but two, because it adds to the
tragedy even more that this poor little girl was only a week away from
her 11th birthday," said Charles Bednarczyk, 53, who lived a few houses
down from Ferreira, on C Street near Louden.Ferriera, a fifth-grader at Feltonville Intermediate School, died
Wednesday of a lung infection caused by a lack of medical care, hours
after she was found unconscious in her home where she lived with her
father and stepmother, police said.On Thursday, the District Attorney's Office approved charges of murder,
endangering the welfare of a child and related offenses against the
little girl's father, Domingo "Anibal" Ferreira, 53, and stepmother,
Margarita Garabito, 43.Police said that Charlenni allegedly suffered serious physical and
sexual abuse and called it "one of the worst cases" they had ever seen.CBS3 reported that five weeks before she died, Charlenni was examined
by a school nurse who noted on Sept. 15 that she "had a gait that was
unsteady," and that she had six unexcused absences during the last
school year due to "parental neglect/noncompliance."School district officials could not comment but instead released a
written statement that partly read: "The district is unable to comment
any further on this case due to the ongoing investigation and the
privacy rights of the student and her family.""I always thought that something might have been wrong," Bednarczyk
said, "because I would see her sitting outside of her house and she
would always appear sort of frozen. "But as soon as she would be allowed to go down the street and play with her friends, it was almost like she blossomed.People congregating on the block yesterday were still shocked by the tragic end to Charlenni's short life."How can you live in these houses next door and not hear anything? The walls are so thin," said Christian Robinson, a neighbor."She was a sweet little girl, never disrespected anybody. I don't understand it," said Tauz Marion, 13, a neighbor."She liked Hannah Montana just like me," said Charlenni's friend and
classmate Merlanny Durah, 10, as her dad dropped her off to place
flowers at the growing memorial for Charlenni."Sometimes she would talk to me and just cry."

The man charged with murder last week in what police officials
called one of the worst cases of child abuse they have ever seen
committed suicide Sunday morning in his jail cell.Domingo Ferreira, 53, was discovered hanging in his cell at the
Curran-Frumhold Correctional Facility around 3:10 a.m., according to
jail officials.Guards on their routine tour noticed Ferreira lying on his bunk with a
torn bed sheet tied to the upper bunk. CPR was administered and medical
staff responded, but Ferreira was declared dead.Ferreira, who was admitted to the jail on Friday, was being kept alone
in a cell in the housing intake unit because of the notoriety of his
case. He also was given a mental evaluation when he arrived and was
judged not to be suicidal.Ferreira and his wife, Margarita Garabito, 43, both were charged this
week after the death on Wednesday of Ferreira's 10-year-old daughter,
Charleeni Ferreira. Garabito is the girl's stepmother.Charleeni had numerous old and fresh wounds and she had been sexually
assaulted. She died from an infection stemming from untreated broken
ribs. She also had a fractured hip that caused the fifth grader to limp.Police described her life at her Feltonville home as an "ongoing torture" at the hands of her father and stepmother.Investigators are awaiting DNA test results before lodging any charges for the sexual abuse they say Charleeni suffered. Garabito is being housed at the Riverside Correctional Facility. She
has been informed of her husband's death and she is under observation,
jail officials said.

Based on preliminary DNA test results, no one is expected to be charged
with sexual assault or rape in the case of Charlenni Ferreira, the
10-year-old girl who authorities say died in October from years of
abuse by her father and stepmother."The DNA portion of this case is not promising at all," Police Homicide Lt. Philip Riehl said this week.Riehl
said there was a "lack of identifiable DNA evidence" linking any of the
men with whom Charlenni lived in their Feltonville home, referring to
her father and two stepbrothers."Without an identifiable DNA
sample linking one of those three or someone else, I don't know how we
will proceed with any charges," Riehl said.Riehl, however, stressed that the DNA results were not final.Asked
if it was possible that Charlenni's stepmother, Margarita Garabito,
sexually abused her or if an object was used to penetrate the girl,
Riehl would only say that that determination would have to be made by
the Medical Examiner's Office.Jeff Moran, spokesman for the M.E.'s Office, said yesterday that his office will not comment on those questions.Charlenni,
a fifth-grader at Feltonville Intermediate School, was found
unconscious in her home on C Street near Loudon about 8:30 a.m. Oct.
21. She was rushed to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children, where
she was pronounced dead later that morning.Authorities charged
her father, Domingo "Anibal" Ferreira, 53, and Garabito, 42, with
murder, endangering the welfare of a child, conspiracy and related
offenses.Homicide Capt. James Clark said the day after
Charlenni's death that she had been sexually assaulted, but did not
elaborate. He said her two stepbrothers, ages 16 and 19, had been
questioned and released.Four days after the girl's death, her father hanged himself in his jail cell at the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.Riehl
on Thursday said there was not "a significant sample" of DNA linking
anyone to the sexual assault. But he added that the Medical Examiner's
Office "has concluded there was penetration" involved."But who is the question," he said.After
Charlenni's death, police noted that doctors from St. Christopher's and
the M.E.'s Office found "several old and new injuries" on the girl,
including severe head trauma; bruising to her back, leg and torso; a
recent fractured hip; fractured ribs; and injuries to her vaginal and
anal areas.Police said Charlenni died of a lung infection caused by her untreated fractured ribs. One lung had collapsed.Garabito faces a preliminary hearing on the murder and related charges Jan. 12.Assistant
District Attorney James Berardinelli said yesterday he has not yet seen
DNA test results in relation to the alleged sexual abuse of Charlenni,
and thus, could not say whether anyone will be charged with sexual
assault.He said at Garabito's preliminary hearing that he
expects a medical examiner and the police detective who took her
statement to testify.According to a police source, Garabito
admitted in her statement to police to beating Charlenni. She also
admitted to giving Charlenni a gash on top of her head, contending that
injury was four or five months old, and to stuffing the gash with
gauze, then trying to hide it with a hair weave, the source has said.In
her interview, Garabito denied sexually assaulting Charlenni, even
asking police how they dared insinuate she did such a thing, the source
said.

After three hours of testimony today, a municipal court judge
ordered Margarita Garabito held for trial on charges that she beat her
stepdaughter, Charlenni Ferreira, to death.
Police officials called Charlenni's October death one of the worst case of child abuse they had seen.
Testifying today, Assistant Medical Examiner Marlon Osbourne needed
more than half an hour to catalog Charlenni's injuries, which stretched
from a fractured skull to bruising down her leg.
The girl died several days shy of her 11th birthday from an infection caused by broken ribs.
"She has to be in heaven, she has to be an angel, because her life
on earth was a living hell," said Municipal Court Judge Patrick F.
Dugan.
Gruesome autopsy photos and postmortem X-rays showed Charlenni's
litany of healed and fresh injuries, including a fractured shoulder
blade, and bone deformities on her hip and arm from past trauma.
She had a gash on her head that was seven inches long and four
inches wide that had been stuffed with cotton and concealed under a
hair weave.
In her statement to detectives, read in court today, Garabito
admitted to causing the gash by hitting Charlenni with a metal broom
handle. She also said in the statement that she had been beating the
girl for more than a year.
After the hearing, Garabito's attorney, Barbara A. McDermott, said
her client was "living in fear" of Charlenni's father, Domingo Ferreira.
Domingo Ferreira was charged along with Garabito, but hung himself in his jail cell shortly after being arrested.
McDermott said blame for the injuries that ultimately took Charlenni's life could rest with her father.

Trial 10/31/2011 9:00 am 1007 Judge Glenn B. Bronson Scheduled

http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=CP-51-CR-0000468-2010

Trial 11/10/2011 9:00 am 1007 Judge Glenn B. Bronson Schedule

http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=CP-51-CR-0000468-2010

Pretrial Bring Back 11/09/2012 9:00 am 1007 Judge Glenn B. Bronson Scheduled
Trial 12/10/2012 9:00 am 1007 Judge Glenn B. Bronson Scheduled


http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CPReport.aspx?docketNumber=CP-51-CR-0000468-2010

Garabito, Margarite; Case No.: CP-51-CR-0000468-2010

From Court Summary:  Next Action: Pre-Trial Conference ... 3/31/2014

From Docket Sheet: Jury Trial . . . 4/28/2014

http://ujsportal.pacourts.us/DocketSheets/CP.aspx