NYPD: Shalom Guifarro, 9, found dead with bite marks inside her family's apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn
NEW YORK -- The gruesome death of a 9-year-old Brooklyn girl has been deemed a homicide by the medical examiner's office.
Her mother Shemene Cato, 48, faces a host of charges, including murder, manslaughter, assault, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a weapon.
Neighbors CBS2's Natalie Duddridge spoke to are extremely upset, and tell her they would often see the young girl and her sister at the window of their fourth floor apartment, and said the girls were very polite.
But residents also tell Duddridge some of the Cato's behavior was alarming.
Crime scene investigators carried evidence bags out of the apartment at 571 Lincoln Place, where 9-year-old Shalom Guifarro was found dead in her apartment around 1 p.m. Sunday with bite marks and bruising to her back, head and hand. Her death was deemed a homicide by multiple blunt force trauma.
"To hear something like that, it's gut wrenching. It hurts," said neighbor Helen Cortez.
"I think that's real terrible, and whoever do it should be accountable for what they did," neighbor Jennifer Isles said.
"When I found out about it, it was like damn, no can't be, can't be. But it's true," another neighbor added.
Neighbors say they would occasionally see the little girl and her 13-year-old sister.
"See them on the fire escape playing," Cortez said.
But residents say most of the encounters with their mother were disturbing.
"She was always yelling at them, so they always looked a little scared, like someone screaming at your," said restaurant owner Bart Hubbuch.
Police sources say the mother was the one who called 911, saying her daughter was not breathing. They say her 13-year-old sibling was in the apartment and told officers her sister had a temper tantrum, and her mother spanked her and put her in a timeout. Then she and her mom went to the kitchen to eat, and later found her younger sister unconscious.
"The superintendent came at probably about 1:15. About 10 minutes later, he came out and he was kind of ashen-faced. Shortly thereafter, all of a sudden, the police and the paramedics and everything came," Hubbuch said.
A dog was removed from the apartment.
"All I saw was the little terrier. It was a little dog," one person said.
Sources say there have been calls to the apartment for domestic incidents. Neighbors say they heard constant arguing.
"You could hear screaming all the time," one person said.
"It caught me off guard," said Rev. Dr. Pedro Torres, of No Longer Bound Miniseries. "The daughter had the most beautiful spirit in the world, cheerful, happy, always pleasant."
Torres' ministry fed the family on occasion and gave them toys for Christmas.
"When I gave her the doll for Christmas, she gave me one of the biggest hugs in the world. And that resonated with me for a long time, because the way she hugged me, I could feel she appreciated it," he said.
According to sources, Cato is a city employee.
CBS2 reached out to the Administration for Children's Services. All they could say is they are working with the NYPD and have ensured the safety of the 13-year-old sibling.
