Police charged Najuquan Ross, 20, for allegedly beating his girlfriend’s daughter while he was babysitting her and two other children on July 15th.
The mother of the children, Lucy Gunter, returned home from work later that evening and saw that her four-year-old daughter had cuts to her face and a missing a tooth.
When Gunter asked how her child got injured, Ross reportedly told his girlfriend that he had beaten her daughter for not wanting to eat dinner, and that she lost her tooth during the beating when she fell trying to fight back.
The four-year-old was rushed to Cooper University Hospital by EMS on July 18th, after she was found unresponsive in her bedroom. She died later that morning.
Law enforcement and medical personnel reported seeing bruises and abrasions across her body.
Lucy Gunter was charged with second degree Endangering the Welfare of a Child for failing to get her daughter medical attention for her injuries until three days after the incident.
Najuquan Ross was charged yesterday with one count of first degree Murder in the death of the child according to Camden County Prosecutor Mary Eva Colalillo and Camden County Police Chief Scott Thomson.
Ross is currently being held at Camden County Correctional Facility.
The defendant’s pretrial detention hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, September 5th at 9 a.m. in front of the Honorable Judge Edward McBride Jr. Under the recent Criminal Justice Reform rules, the court may order he be detained without bail or released with conditions.