BRONX —A Bronx mother and her boyfriend have confessed to using a belt to beat a 3-year-old girl a day before she was found dead in her home Monday, prosecutors said.
Leon Walters, 25, and Sherika Stewart, 22, were charged with assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child, prosecutors said. The pair admitted to investigators that they repeatedly struck Ahnya Louis-Hardy on her arms and legs between 5 p.m. and 11 p.m. Sunday, according to their criminal complaint.
Charges could be elevated if the medical examiner's autopsy determines that the girl died from the beating, a spokesman for the Bronx District Attorney's office said.
The girl was covered in bruises on her arms, legs and back when she was rushed to Montefiore Medical Center about 4 p.m. Monday, cops and prosecutors said.
She was pronounced dead upon arrival, police said.
Stewart was being held at Rikers Island on $20,000 bail awaiting a court appearance on Friday, according to the Department of Corrections. Walters was released on bail Thursday.
