Last week, an 8-month-old girl was found unresponsive at a Baltimore daycare center. Initially, an employee told Baltimore officials that she fed the baby, swaddled her and put her down for a nap. However, surveillance footage obtained by the police from the Rocket Tiers Learning Center showed otherwise.
According to reports, in the video that officials describe as “disturbing,” 23-year-old Leah Walden was shown covering 8-month-old Reese Bowman with “excessive blankets.” She was also shown “violently snatching the child out of the crib with one arm, swinging the baby as if she was slapping her, and placing pillows over the baby’s face,” Criminal Investigations Chief Stanley Brandford revealed. However, authorities say they “can only assume” what Walden did to the baby off camera, as there were times when the staffer stepped out of frame.
“Watching that video is disturbing,” an officer revealed. “Reese Bowman, in my opinion, was tortured.”
Walden was arrested Thursday on charges of first and second-degree murder, first and second- degree assault, reckless endangerment and second-degree child abuse. Although Walden was a staffer at the daycare center, the business released a statement revealing that there was no reason to believe that there was “anything going on besides this particular incident.”
“At this time, it does not appear that there has been any wrongdoing at this point on RTLC,” the center said in an email to parents. “We send our deepest thoughts and condolences to the family and the RTLC community.” The center also revealed that it would close down for the time being to “ensure that our teachers and staff receive grief counseling and that the [police] investigation isn’t disrupted in any way.”
