MUSKEGON, Mich. (AP) - Court documents say an 8-year-old girl accused of killing a toddler at a home daycare in western Michigan earlier this year suffers from "serious mental health" issues, including hearing a demon's voice.
The Department of Health and Human Services filed a petition in Muskegon County Family Court saying the girl, who was also cared for at the home daycare, killed 14-month-old Korey Landon Brown on April 14.
The petition filed last month asks the court to make the girl a temporary ward of the state and to make a decision regarding the girl's placement that protects her brother and other children. The petition says the best placement is Hawthorn Center, a state-run residential psychiatric facility in Northville for children and adolescents.
Chief Assistant Prosecutor Timothy Maat tells MLive the petition was the result of an investigation conducted by multiple agencies.
Korey's mother said that when she went to the daycare to take her children home, she found the boy unresponsive in a playpen and covered with bite marks. His death was ruled a homicide due to multiple injuries, including trauma to his head, other blunt force trauma and possible asphyxiation, according to the petition.
Maat said no criminal charge was brought against the child accused of the killing because any child under the age of 10 is considered incompetent under state law.
Daycare provider Keysha Collins pleaded no contest to attempted child neglect last Tuesday. She'll be on probation for a year under a deal struck last Friday in Muskegon County court.
Collins is not accused of injuring Korey, but authorities said she failed to properly supervise children.
Published: Tue, Aug 22, 2017
