New York Mom Charged with Homicide of Nine-Year-Old Daughter After Police Probe Reveals Chilling Torture Such as Bite Marks, Fatal Beating

According to police sources, a 9-year-old girl discovered dead in her Brooklyn home with a head injury and bite marks on her back had been chastised by her enraged mother, who now faces murder charges.

"Mommy slapped her and placed her in timeout," an older brother told authorities who discovered Shalom Guifarro dead in the family apartment on Lincoln Place near Franklin Ave., in Crown Heights on Sunday afternoon, according to two police sources familiar with the case.

Brooklyn Girl's Death Ruled a Homicide

Shemene Cato, Shalom's mother, was arrested and charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal possession of a firearm. In Brooklyn Criminal Court, she will be arraigned. The death of the little child has been ruled a murder, according to a municipal Medical Examiner spokesman. An autopsy found that Shalom died from repeated blunt force injuries.

According to police sources, cops are looking into three things for possible forensic clues: a branch found in the girl's bedroom, a bent piece of furniture, and an extension cable found in the apartment corridor. The extension cable, according to investigators, was the murder weapon. Shalom's back was bruised and swelled, as was the left side of her head and ear. Her knuckles were also injured, according to reports.

Shalom's mother works for the city's Human Resources Administration. She was detained for interrogation and has obtained the services of a lawyer from her union. There have been no charges filed. The victim's elder sibling was apprehended by the ACS. Domestic complaints against the mother have been filed in the past though they do not appear to have implicated Shalom, according to New York Daily News.

Arrested Mother Allegedly Ignored Daughter's Plea

Prosecutors said on Tuesday that the mother of a 9-year-old Brooklyn girl threw a bed on her daughter after hitting her, then repeatedly disregarded pleadings for "mommy help me" before the little girl died. Shemene Cato, 48, violently abused her daughter Shalom Guifarro and her 13-year-old sister for two hours before fatally wounding her on Sunday, according to Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney David Ingle.

Cops arrived in the Crown Heights residence and found Shalom after the older girl sneaked out and dialed 911, according to the prosecution. Judge Simiyon Haniff arraigned Cato on a second-degree murder charge and ordered him imprisoned without bail, as well as an order of protection for the elder girl.

Around 1 pm on Sunday, police arrived at Cato's house in Crown Heights and discovered the girl brutally injured and died inside. Shalom was spanked by her mother and put in time out following a rage tantrum, according to her sister, before she was found lifeless, authorities said.

Cato reportedly assaulted her two kids over a missing computer tablet, causing Shalom to escape and hide under the bed.

As reported by the lawsuit, Cato then raised the bed and dumped it on her younger daughter's head, then disregarded the girl's cries for help while she bled internally. According to records, cops had been to Cato's apartment 14 times before for domestic violence allegations, most of which were Cato complaining about her ex's claimed harassment as per New York Post.

On Sunday, employees at the Memphis Seoul restaurant phoned owner Bart Hubbuch. The household had a tiny dog and a larger pitbull-type dog; neighbors reported a foul odor, which they described as "almost like sewage seeping into the restaurant from the apartment.

Shemene was charged with murder, manslaughter, assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and criminal possession of a firearm, according to the authorities. The mother had been the subject of previous domestic complaints, according to sources, although it's unclear if these implicated Shalom, The Sun reported.