Unlicensed Daycare Centre Owner Arrested For Putting 6 Month Old Baby In Bag To Stop Her Crying, Causing Her Death

The owner of an unlicensed daycare centre has been arrested for killing a six-month-old girl by putting a bag over her head to try to stop her from crying.

The incident took place at the Creche da Tia Cleidinha (Aunt Cleidinha’s Daycare Centre) in the administrative region of Planaltina in the Federal District in Brazil on Wednesday, 20th October.

The young victim, Amariah Noleto, was taken to the Planaltina Regional Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival after Marina Pereira da Costa, the co-owner of the unauthorised creche, allegedly put her in what news portal G1 described as a “kind of sleeping bag” to try to make her stop crying. The doctors were unable to revive her.

Amariah Noleto, the baby who died at Tia Cleidinha’s Nursery, in Planaltina, Brazil. (Newsflash)

The suspect, whose age was not reported, was arrested for ‘murder through negligence’ the following day and was remanded in custody.

According to the news site Metropoles, the suspect sent a WhatsApp message to an employee following the incident saying: “Camylla, you don’t need to work today. Amariah went to the hospital and died yesterday. Aunt Cleide and I are f*cked.”

Reinforcing the suspicion that she was more concerned about her job than the youngster’s life, she went on to write: “We don’t even know if we’ll have work.”

‘Aunt Cleide’ is reported to be the other co-owner of the creche along with her niece.

According to reports, another female employee at the daycare centre told the police that Da Costa got annoyed with Amariah’s constant crying, went into the room she was in and closed the door. The crying then got louder and suddenly stopped before Da Costa walked out.

The woman then told the police she went into the room and found the baby unconscious. Da Costa then allegedly came back in and said she would take the youngster to hospital because she had choked on her own phlegm, which is what workers at the daycare centre also told the baby’s parents.

According to the investigation, the baby was found inside a bag made by the suspect herself that covered her “entire body”, and she also had a sheet over her head.

According to judge Lucas Lima da Rocha, who ordered the suspect’s preventive detention, there were reports of other instances of violent behaviour by the suspect towards children.

The daycare centre, which opened for business as usual the day after the incident as if nothing had happened, is reported to only employ two members of staff per shift to take care of some 40 children, all held in a cramped space, between them.

The centre is reported to charge parents BRL 300 (GBP 39) per month to look after their children.

The suspect remains in preventive custody while her aunt and the pair’s business remain under investigation.

Amariah was buried in a local cemetery on Saturday, 23rd October.

Her dad, 23-year-old sales assistant Valdemir Ribeiro Noleto, said: “We don’t know what happened. There’s no way of explaining it, only God can. We only lived happy moments with her. She will never fade from our lives.”