Sources: Police Question Mother Of 2-Year-Old Girl Found Dead After Brooklyn Fire
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Police are questioning the mother of a 2-year-old girl who was found dead at the scene of a fire in Brooklyn.
The one-alarm blaze broke out in a third-floor apartment of a building at 755 Monroe St. in Bedford-Stuyvesant around 6:30 a.m. Tuesday and was brought under control about an hour and a half later, CBS2's Dave Carlin reported.
At that point, there were no reports of any injuries or deaths, sources said.
Around 9:43 a.m. a 20-year-old woman, who was not there during the fire, came to the scene and told officers her daughter was inside during the fire, police said.
Firefighters did another search of the building and found the girl's body under a bed in the apartment where the fire broke out.
The girl has been identified as Kaleenah Muldrow.
"She was a beautiful 2-year-old girl," said Lisa Robinson, Kaleenah's cousin.
The girl's mother, Leila Aquino, was questioned by NYPD detectives at the 81st Precinct, 1010 WINS' Carol D'Auria reported. No charges have been filed as police determine who should have been watching the girl.
According to sources, the woman said she left the child with somebody, but didn't know the person's name.
Kaleenah's family members could not account for Aquino's early-morning whereabouts, Carlin reported.
"Just sad and tragic. You don't want to hear about no kids dying," Eric, a neighbor, told 1010 WINS.
"It's sad, a little girl like that," added neighbor Martin Alicea. "I have young kids myself, so it touches the heart to hear something like that."
More than one neighbor reported hearing a loud bang before noticing the fire. Fire investigators have not confirmed that or established an official cause for the blaze.
The medical examiner will determine the cause of death.