A home daycare provider is being charged with manslaughter after killing a 20-month-old boy in her care. The woman, Athena Skeeter, 40, runs an in-home daycare out of her Bronx, NY apartment. She has been licensed by the State of New York since 2005, and was used by the family of the child as a free day care service provided by the state. Skeeter allegedly killed Cardell Williamson and then went shopping at a nearby supermarket.
Isliel Hayward-Barnes, 12, walked into the home of Skeeter. He saw the young boy lifeless and propped up on the sofa. Williamson’s body was bruised and his mouth taped shut, while Skeeter’s mother Cora Cross, 60, viewed him from her kitchen rocking chair. Hayward-Barnes described Williamson as naked, stiff, and cold. Hayward-Barnes told the Daily News on Monday, “I saw my little cousin on the couch, I went over to him. He wasn’t moving. He was butt naked and he was wet. He had masking tape on his mouth.”
Hayward-Barnes said Skeeter threatened to kill him if he told anyone about Williamson. Disobeying Skeeter, Hayward-Barnes told his mother, who immediately contacted the authorities. It has been determined that Skeeter wrestled with the child, placed him in bathtub of scorching hot water, and stepped on him. The case is currently under investigation, but Skeeter has been arrested and held without bail for manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child.
[Images/Source: New York Daily News]