Crime & Safety

Prosecutor: Babysitter Left 4-Year-Old Child Alone; Girl Trapped, Died In Futon

An Essex woman has been charged with child endangerment in connection with the death of a young child, who died while left home alone.

An Essex County baby-sitter has been charged with child endangerment in connection with the death of a 4-year-old girl, who died after being left home alone with three other young children, reports say.

Sykita L. Covington, 39, allegedly left the 4-year-old victim, along with three children, ages 1, 2, and 3, alone inside a Newark housing complex on May 7, 2014, authorities told NJ.com.

Four-year-old Naira Bennet was found unresponsive after she became trapped in a folding bed or futon, which had closed around her head and body, the Daily Record reported. She was pronounced dead at University Hospital hospital later that day, according to NJ.com.

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Covington, who reportedly told authorities that she left the children alone to pick her sons up from school, was indicted on Jan. 6 on four counts of child endangerment, according to NJ.com. She is currently being held in an Essex County jail, in lieu of $75,000 bail, the Daily Record reports.

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