CINCINNATI -- A 3-year-old girl died early Sunday, just a few days after her baby sitter was indicted on charges of felonious assault and felony child endangering.
Hannah Wesche was essentially "brain dead" at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, her father said. She was pronounced dead at 12:15 a.m., he said.
Lindsay Partin, 35, of Hanover Township, is accused of striking and shaking Hannah.
The Butler County, Ohio Sheriff's Office said emergency crews and sheriff's detectives were called to Partin's home March 8 for an unconscious child. In a 911 call, Partin told the operator she had no idea what happened to Hannah: The girl passed out and went limp after she got dropped off, she said.
Paramedics and a sheriff's official said they found Hannah unresponsive, with labored breathing and bruises on her face and other parts of her head. Partin admitted striking Hannah and said she'd fallen and struck her head on a concrete garage floor the previous day, according to Sheriff Richard Jones.
A Butler County grand jury indicted Partin on the two felony counts Thursday. Based on prior cases, upgraded charges are likely.
Relatives said Partin was a neighbor and someone the family had trusted to care for Wesche for several months.
"I just can't believe that somebody would just take such an innocent child away from us,” Hannah's aunt, Megan Latham, said. “I just can't believe somebody had this in them. She's not human. She's not human."
