Leila Aquino left her two-year-old daughter home alone in Brooklyn while she went to work in a strip club on Tuesday evening. That little girl died in a house fire.
#UPDATE bail set at $10,000 for Leila Aquino, mom accused of reckless endangerment of her 2yo- #Brooklyn Criminal court.@PIX11News
— Kala Rama (@KalaRamaTV) February 25, 2016
The New York Post reports Leila Aquino first told authorities her daughter was at home with a babysitter. She later recanted that story when the babysitter said she no longer worked for the 20-year-old mom.
Kalenah Muldrow wasn’t found until her mom returned home from work on Wednesday morning and notified police that she had been upstairs in the building that burned. The little girl was discovered underneath her bed, where she likely had been hiding when the fire broke out.
When Leila Aquino returned home on Wednesday, she was carrying a box containing $980 in one dollar bills–tips she made while at work as a stripper.
Fire officials believe the fire started because of a portable heater that was left on inside Leila Aquino’s apartment.
It’s unthinkable that anyone would leave a two-year-old home alone for even a few minutes. Imagining the fear the little girl experienced before she died is sickening.
#Brooklyn mom Leila Aquino arrested after home alone 2yo daughter Kalenah Muldrow dies in fire @NYPD81Pct #NBC4NY pic.twitter.com/gWZ1dT9tsP
— Katherine Creag (@katcreag4NY) February 24, 2016
Leila Aquino was already under investigation for having left her daughter home alone before. The child’s paternal grandmother is outraged.
She “chose that life, that fast money,” Shellon Archibald told the New York Daily News.
“You don’t leave a 2-year-old alone in the house,” the grandmother added. “She deserves what she gets.”
NBC reports Leila Aquino was reported to the city last March when her daughter was discovered with bruises and marks on her body.
There are so many people who would give up a lot to have a child, but they can’t have one. How profoundly sad it is that this little girl died because Leila Aquino didn’t properly care for her.
Aquino has been arrested and charged with child endangerment.
