The teenage mum who was attacked by a baying mob after her three-month-old daughter was found strangled to death has now been arrested along with the baby’s grandmother over the alleged murder.
Ana Maria Patino Fabro was just three months old when she was allegedly strangled to death in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires on Saturday, 15th January.
The baby’s 51-year-old grandmother, Bettina Paola Fabro, was arrested first over the baby’s death.
But now, the baby’s 17-year-old mother, who has not been named, has also been arrested for abandoning and injuring the infant.
The teen mum was previously beaten up by an angry mob when news spread of her own mother’s arrest for allegedly strangling the tiny baby girl. Footage of the beating was widely shared online.
The baby girl was pronounced dead on arrival at the Finochietto Hospital in Lomas de Zamora, which is a city located in Buenos Aires Province, to the south of the capital.
At the hospital, doctors observed marks on the baby’s neck and face that suggested strangulation, and they subsequently alerted the police.
Officers arrived at the medical centre and arrested the victim’s grandmother, who allegedly claimed that the tot was fatally injured in an accident.
The baby’s death shocked residents of the victim’s home city of Ingeniero Budge, also in Buenos Aires Province, after which the baby’s teen mother was targeted by an angry mob.
In the footage, several women are seen beating and kicking the teenage girl on the ground as she screams and tries to stop them from tearing off her clothes.
The mob shouts “murderer” and “kill her” as they take turns hitting the teenager.
The main suspect in little Ana Maria’s death, the baby’s grandmother, is being kept in custody on a charge of aggravated homicide.
The arrest of the teenage girl came after her mother reportedly refused to give testimony to the authorities.
The teen’s case is being handled by juvenile prosecutor Enrique Lazzari, because she is a minor. She is suspected of abandonment and of injuring her own daughter. It is unclear if she has been formally charged.
The baby’s body was autopsied and the authorities said that a forensic doctor found that she had injuries to her face and neck that were consistent with mechanical suffocation, according to prosecutor Marcela Juan.
The incident has caused widespread outrage in the country, with locals reportedly gathering in front of the family home on Guamini Street with images of the young girl and posters that reportedly read “she was just a baby” and “killer scum”.
The investigation is ongoing.
