BEAR, Del. (AP/WBOC)- A Delaware daycare worker has been arrested on a murder charge in the death of an infant under her care, police said Friday.
Investigators determined that on Thursday morning 19-year-old Dejoynay M. Ferguson, of New Castle, placed her hands over the 4-month-old girl's mouth and nose and intentionally restricted her breathing, according to Delaware State Police. The child was pronounced dead at a hospital later Thursday.
Court records say surveillance video at Little People Child Development Center in Bear shows Ferguson pick up the child by the front of her shirt and place the baby on a changing table. Ferguson told police she had grabbed the child by the shirt because the baby was "fussy" and wouldn't stop crying.
Ferguson placed the child back into a crib after the girl became "unresponsive" and didn't alert the daycare's owner until approximately 20 minutes later, police said. It was then that a call was made to 911.
Ferguson, a New Castle resident, was charged with first-degree murder and remained jailed Friday on $1 million cash bail.
The state Office of Child Care Licensing has suspended the center's license indefinitely.