Wilkinsburg Couple Charged In 5-Week-Old Daughter's Death
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – The mother and father of a 5-week-old baby have been charged in the child's death.
Sheena Alston and Lincoln Levys, of Wilkinsburg, are both charged with endangering the welfare of a child. Police were called to their home on McNary Boulevard around 5:45 a.m. Thursday.
According to police, the weeks-old little girl died early Thursday morning after being brought to Children's Hospital.
Emergency room staff said the child had fresh and old scratches on her face that were "too many to get a clear count," bucket handle fractures in three bones, bruising, other scratches on her torso and say she appeared to have other healing fractures. She had burns, too.
The criminal complaint goes on to say, doctors at Children's Hospital wrote about the case, "The amount of violence directed at this child at just weeks of life is difficult to conceive."
They added, "This child has been the victim of violence on more than one occasion. And likely repeatedly."
In an interview with police, Alston's 7-year-old daughter says that she was regularly beaten with a hose and was hit in the face, resulting in a bloody nose after her 21-month-old brother broke the father's "glass jar" that "he uses to breathe with" using "plants that he grows in the 'plant room.'"
"It's terrible. You talk about a 5-week-old child," said Allegheny County Police Superintendent Charles Moffatt. "Seven-years-old and younger, they cannot protect themselves. And these are people who are supposed to protect the children."
Alston, also told police she witnessed her husband being "too rough" with the children, including hitting the son with a foot-long piece of trim board.
Alston faces three counts of child endangerment, while Levys faces three counts of child endangerment and aggravated assault.
He could face homicide charges once lab work is completed. An autopsy was being conducted today.
The couple is being held in the Allegheny County Jail. Their two surviving children are with CYF.
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