Stamford police have arrested the owner of a daycare in connection with the death of a 2-month-old girl and police said the investigation is still ongoing.
"It’s a 2-month-old baby who was defenseless, obviously. She’s 2-months-old. She can’t roll around. She can’t speak. She can’t talk," Lt. Diedrich Hohn said.
Nydia Carrillo-Maldonado, 34, of Wardwell Street in Stamford, has been charged with first-degree manslaughter and risk of injury to a minor after the death of Bella Redondo of New Canaan and pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.
Redondo died on July 12, after she had difficulty breathing and was rushed to the hospital from the Little Bears Beginnings Daycare in Stamford. The medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by blunt force trauma to the head.
Hohn said police believe the baby's death was intentional and Carrillo-Maldonado did not call 911 in a "timely enough" matter.
An attorney for the Redondo family said they were "relieved" by the arrest.
“While no arrest will ever ease their heartache and loss, the Redondos are grateful to law enforcement for moving quickly and fairly on this case. The family wants accountability and justice for Bella, and this arrest is the first step toward those goals," Mark Sherman, the Redondo family's attorney, said.
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Carrillo-Maldonado owns of Little Bears Beginnings Daycare and state officials suspended her license days after Redondo died.
Carrillo-Maldonado has lived in Stamford for the last nine years and has no criminal record in that time.
During interviews with police, she denied intentionally hurting the baby girl.
The court-set bond remains ats $200,000, police said, and she is due back in court on Aug. 25
Calls NBC Connecticut made to Christian W. Bujdud, Carrillo-Maldonado's attorney, have not been returned.
Her husband was in court on Tuesday and did not comment.
Police said this was a difficult case for investigators.
“Many parents put the trust of their children in the hands of daycare workers every day and this is every parent’s nightmare. This case was the departments’ top priority for the last several weeks,” police said in a release.
