A Brooklyn woman was charged with murder on Monday in the death of her 9-year-old daughter, who had cuts and bruises to her head and bite marks on her back when she was found the day before in their apartment, the police said.
The woman, Shemene Cato, 48, was also charged with possession of a weapon — an electrical cord that she used to used to hit the girl, Shalom Guifarro, according to a law enforcement official who was not authorized to discuss details of the case publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The official said Ms. Cato was expected to be arraigned on Tuesday.
The New York City medical examiner’s office said on Monday that Shalom had died of multiple blunt-force trauma injuries and ruled her death a homicide.
A police official said Ms. Cato had a history of domestic complaints, although none of them appeared to involve Shalom. The city’s child-welfare agency, the Administration for Children’s Services, declined to say whether the family had a history with it but said it had “taken action to secure the safety” of the other child in the home after Shalom’s death. Ms. Cato has a 13-year-old daughter who was home when Shalom was pronounced dead at the scene just after 1 p.m. Sunday, the police said.
On Sunday, neighbors described Ms. Cato as an overprotective mother who seemed to be troubled. They said she was known throughout the neighborhood for verbally abusing her daughter and two dogs, a pit bull and a smaller dog.
“She was crazy” said Rey Santiago, 28, a neighbor who described seeing Ms. Cato scream at and shove one of her daughters in a laundromat.
The police said that Ms. Cato had called 911 to report that her daughter was in distress.
Bart Hubbuch, who owns the restaurant Memphis Seoul, which is on the ground floor of the low-rise brick building where Ms. Cato lives, said that when he arrived there early Sunday afternoon his employees reported a stench that they assumed was coming from a broken toilet upstairs.
Minutes after the building superintendent responded to their call, they watched him emerge from the building, ashen-faced.
Numerous emergency personnel arrived moments later.
“They said it was a horrific crime scene,” Mr. Hubbuch said, adding that he watched police officers who appeared to be wiping away tears.
“This is so sad — that was a beautiful little girl,” said Flora Wilson, 51, a neighborhood crossing guard who was friendly with Ms. Cato and her family.
Two neighbors said that Ms. Cato was known by the nickname Serge. One neighbor, Barry Todman, 51, said she worked on Atlantic Avenue helping city residents sign up for welfare benefits. She often wore sweatshirts with the green, yellow and black Jamaican flag.
“I don’t know what the hell happened,” said Mr. Todman, who added that when he went to Ms. Cato for assistance in summer 2020, she had seemed kind and professional.
But Mr. Hubbuch and others said Ms. Cato was notorious around her block for yelling at her daughters. He added that he would not see the girls playing outside or with friends.
“She was always screaming at her kids so loud it would startle you,” he said, adding that he had never seen her being physically abusive. “It was like, Why are you screaming at your kids like that?”
Ms. Cato’s boyfriend worked during the pandemic as a delivery driver, Mr. Hubbuch said, but he had not been around for several months. He added that officers talked to the boyfriend when he arrived at the scene Sunday afternoon and that he had walked away looking distressed.
A man who runs a neighborhood food pantry said that Ms. Cato regularly stopped for provisions. He described her as brusque and as a stern disciplinarian with her children and animals. “But I never expected anything like this,” said the man, who gave only his given name, Rob.
Ashley Southall contributed reporting.
