OVIEDO, Fla. — A woman accused of killing her 1-year-old daughter faced a judge on Tuesday.
Oviedo police said Kristen De Pasquale killed her daughter, Mia Rice, at a home on Covington Street.
Police responded at about 10 p.m. Thursday to a report of a child in cardiac arrest with something wrapped around her neck, investigators said. %
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De Pasquale told officers that she left her two children in the living room watching TV while she took a shower, and when she came back, Mia was unresponsive, with a strand of holiday lights around her neck, Oviedo police said.
"We arrived on scene and gave CPR to the child," Oviedo Police Department spokeswoman Heather Capetillo said. "The fire department took over the CPR and they transported the child to the hospital where (she) was pronounced dead."
De Pasquale said Mia's older brother, who is 2 years old, might have been responsible, investigators said.
As the investigation went on, police said the woman's story started to fall apart.
"From what she was saying at the hospital to what we found at the house, was very inconsistent," Capetillo said.
The medical examiner also ruled the death a homicide by strangulation, saying the injuries appeared to be a result of more force than the slightly older brother could have made."
De Pasquale said nothing as she went before a judge on Tuesday, and her family did not have a comment for Channel 9 after the hearing.
De Pasquale's defense attorney, Tim Caudill, spoke with Channel 9.
"She is very upset. She has lost a child, a child she loved. She's a mother of two children. She loves her children very much," Caudill said.
Neighbors said they were shocked.
“You feel for the child, but first thing you know you say, ‘My God. What could have happened there?’” said neighbor Alejandro Pena Martinez.
The judge ordered De Pasquale held without bail in the Seminole County Jail.
The toddler is in the care of the Department of Children and Families.
The children's father went to prison in January and is serving time.
De Pasquale's father is a Seminole County Sheriff's deputy, and it is not known whether he will take custody of the boy.
Chanel 9 learned that De Pasquale was arrested in 2010 on charges of selling, giving or serving alcoholic beverages to someone, but the charge was dropped three months later.
Cox Media Group
