Babysitter Accused of Murdering Toddler

(Hartford, Connecticut) A 25-year-old babysitter, Yalines Torres, was arrested yesterday for allegedly causing the death of a 19-month-old child she was watching.

Torres has been charged with capital felony murder.

Torres was watching 19-month-old Elijah Gasque on Friday evening while his mother worked. According to a police report, Torres told Julie Adkins-Gasque that Elijah had a seizure and collapsed during a game of ring-around-the-rosy.

Police said Torres made conflicting statements to them about the injury, saying that her own 2-year-old son struck him in the head with a xylophone toy and that Elijah may have been hurt when he fell after she twirled him in the air and set him down.

But after more questioning, police said Torres said Elijah was injured in a game in which she bundled him in a closed sleeping bag and she jogged through her apartment with the bag slung over her shoulder.

Going through one doorway, Torres lost her balance and the bag struck the door frame twice, police said. When she opened the bag, Elijah was pale and not breathing, according to the police report.

He died at a hospital the next day. A police report noted Elijah had a skull fracture and bleeding in the brain, and the medical examiner's office ruled the death a homicide.

Torres was booked into custody with bond set at $1 million.

Tip: SuidaeEmpathy