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Girl Suffocated in Sofa Bed After Mom's Husband Left Her Alone, DA Says

By Aidan Gardiner | September 24, 2013 7:24am
 Mohamed Barry, 50, was arrested after his wife's daughter, Aissante Diallo, suffocated, cops said.
Mohamed Barry, 50, was arrested after his wife's daughter, Aissante Diallo, suffocated, cops said.
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MANHATTAN — A man who was supposed to be supervising his wife's kids left their Harlem apartment before one of them got trapped in a fold-out sofa bed and suffocated Sunday , prosecutors said.

Aissante Diallo, 3, was playing with a sibling on a sofa bed in their West 140th Street apartment when it suddenly snapped shut, trapping them inside, cops said.

Their mother's husband, Mohamed Barry, 50, returned home and found the two kids trapped inside, prosecutors said. One was freed, but Aissante could not escape, officials said. 

Desperate, Barry called 911 then raced outside and flagged down two police officers from PSA 6 who helped pry open the couch, prosecutors said.

Aissante was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Barry, a native of South Africa, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, according to his criminal complaint and the city's Department of Correction.

He was held on $2,500 bail or $5,000 bond and due back in court Friday, records showed.