A 27-year-old Bronx mother is facing charges after she allegedly hung her 6-year-old daughter by her wrists before fatally beating her. According to the New York Post, Jelayah Eason Branch’s killing came after her mother Lynija Eason physically abused the minor in their unkempt apartment for weeks.
The physical abuse is said to have started on March 1, and authorities found Jelayah’s body at the home on Sunday, the Bronx District Attorney’s Office said in a news release on Tuesday. Jelayah had suffered bruises and was malnourished when she was found, authorities said, adding that Eason killed her daughter by “striking her and hanging her in [a] closet.”
“The little girl was allegedly hanged by her wrists and beaten by the defendant with a hard object,” DA Darcel Clark said. “For weeks before she succumbed, Jelayah knew only pain and hunger, allegedly committed by her own mother.”
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The District Attorney said the city medical examiner’s office determined Jelayah’s death stemmed from being subjected to child abuse. She also died from positional asphyxia, blunt force injuries and malnourishment.
“We will get justice for Jelayah, and are providing services and support to her two siblings who survived a house of horrors,” Clark stated.
Eason has since been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree manslaughter, second-degree manslaughter, and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child. She has also been ordered to remain in custody.
Her next court date is scheduled for June 26.
