A four-year-old girl weighing less than a six-month-old baby has been found dead after apparently being tied to her cot
Police found the severely-malnourished child, weighing just 15 pounds, after being called to the "filthy" New York apartment by her mother.
The toddler has been identified as Marchella Pierce.
She was found dead in her mother's bed - but there was a child's cot nearby with rails on it and rope twine tied to them at the top and bottom, according to the New York Post.
Marchella had marks on her ankles that were consistent with being tied up, officers said.
Yet the cause of her death is a mystery.
Police are unsure if they are investigating a horrific case of child neglect or the tragic death of a sickly child who spent most of her life in the hospital.
Cops are questioning the girl's mother, Carlotta Pierce, 30, her father, Tyrone Pierce, 30, and her grandmother, Loretta Brett.
Investigators are awaiting results from an autopsy.
"My wife is a wonderful mother. I've never seen her hurt her kids," said Tyrone Pierce, who is separated from Carlotta.
He said Marchella was born prematurely at barely more than a pound. Her lungs were underdeveloped and she was in hospitals from birth until this February.
Doctors gave her a tracheotomy, making a hole in her neck so she could breathe with a tube.
The New York Daily News quoted her father as saying that a plastic insert for the hole was too small, causing problems, and that Marchella only recently began eating solid food through her mouth.
Tyrone Pierce said he knew nothing about his daughter being restrained.
Carlotta also has two sons, aged 6 years and 9 months.
- Reports from the New York Daily News and Daily Mail UK
'Malnourished girl (4) found dead in filthy flat'
A four-year-old girl weighing less than a six-month-old baby has been found dead after apparently being tied to her cot
Police found the severely-malnourished child, weighing just 15 pounds, after being called to the "filthy" New York apartment by her mother.
The toddler has been identified as Marchella Pierce.
She was found dead in her mother's bed - but there was a child's cot nearby with rails on it and rope twine tied to them at the top and bottom, according to the New York Post.
Marchella had marks on her ankles that were consistent with being tied up, officers said.
Yet the cause of her death is a mystery.
Police are unsure if they are investigating a horrific case of child neglect or the tragic death of a sickly child who spent most of her life in the hospital.
Cops are questioning the girl's mother, Carlotta Pierce, 30, her father, Tyrone Pierce, 30, and her grandmother, Loretta Brett.
Investigators are awaiting results from an autopsy.
"My wife is a wonderful mother. I've never seen her hurt her kids," said Tyrone Pierce, who is separated from Carlotta.
He said Marchella was born prematurely at barely more than a pound. Her lungs were underdeveloped and she was in hospitals from birth until this February.
Doctors gave her a tracheotomy, making a hole in her neck so she could breathe with a tube.
The New York Daily News quoted her father as saying that a plastic insert for the hole was too small, causing problems, and that Marchella only recently began eating solid food through her mouth.
Tyrone Pierce said he knew nothing about his daughter being restrained.
Carlotta also has two sons, aged 6 years and 9 months.
- Reports from the New York Daily News and Daily Mail UK
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