A Brooklyn woman and her boyfriend were arrested Monday and charged in the death of an 11-year-old girl.
According to authorities, the autopsy of Alexandra Velasquez?s body revealed that the girl suffered from child abuse and died from a blunt impact to the head, torso and extremities.
Police questioned the girl?s mother, 36-year-old Florencia Moral Vazquez, who reportedly confessed to killing her daughter with a mop handle in their East New York apartment sometime between Friday and Saturday. The child?s motionless body was discovered by police Sunday after a neighbor called 911.
Vazquez?s attorney, however, denies allegations that his client confessed to murdering her child. Instead, he says the girl died as a result of an accidental fall.
?It?s a fabrication,? the lawyer says. ?She never admitted to beating or injuring her.?
A spokesperson for the Administration for Children?s Services says the agency removed one of the victim?s siblings from the home earlier this year. The three remaining children were taken by ACS following Velasquez?s death.
Neighbors say the little girl moved in with her mother and her mother?s boyfriend, Andres Pavon Balderas, just a few weeks prior to her death.
"They seemed like normal kids,? says neighbor Annabel Heinsen. "They would come up and say ?hi,? and that was about it.?