MEMPHIS, TN-- Devastated. That's how a Memphis grandmother says she feels after learning a teen has been charged in the death of her infant granddaughter.
16-year-old Jasmine Malone is charged with first degree murder in the death of Wynter Roberts.
Last Saturday, police were called to a house on Grinstead Cove in Hickory Hill. That's where Malone was babysitting the 10 month-old child.
Police were initially told that Wynter had fallen out of bed and wasn't breathing. An autopsy later showed Wynter died as a result of blunt force trauma.
“I didn't want to believe that she was killed. I just wanted to believe it was an accident” says Tangler Pitts.
Tangler Pitts says she can't stop thinking about her granddaughter Wynter and the last time she saw the infant alive.
“For me to walk in that hospital room and see my grandchild laying there with a breathing tube in her and then hours later I was called because she was pronounced dead. It was very dramatic feeling” says Pitts.
Last weekend, Wynter was rushed to Le Bonheur Children's Medical Center from a home on Grinstead Cove. Police say the child had been in the care of 16 year-old Jasmine Malone.
When we came by to ask questions, no one answered the door.
“I don't know how long they have been there but I know it hasn't been very long” says Sebrenia Denton about her neighbors at that home.
Denton used to work as a daycare provider and says for that reason, she has some sympathy for Malone.
“I know she could not anticipate what was going to happen” says Denton. “What I would like parents to know is that it is so vitally important that you research your caregivers.”
Tangler Pitts says she believes this whole incident could have been prevented had she been left to care for her granddaughter.
“It's not justice because I'm sad not only for me and my family but for Jasmine and her family.”
Jasmine Malone is being held at the juvenile detention center. We've learned she's been in trouble with the law before. In July, she was arrested for property theft.
According to the Memphis Child Advocacy Center, 14 children died last year as a result of abuse or neglect. That's a record for Shelby County.
