I firmly disagree with the State of Maine on charging a 10 y/o with manslaughter. I'd be closer to charging the parents for leaving a child with a child.

There is absolutely not enough information for this article to have even been published. It will just bring out the crazies.

I agree, don't even print this if you do not know the facts.......

Can a 10 year old really be a baby sitter? I'm sorry but in my opinion that is way to young to be responsble for anything. Can the 10 year old even change diapers? Understand that the baby is really fragile at that age and should do it a certain way? Does she know how to prepare the babies milk? Sorry, so many questions - I have 2 young boys and I just can't find myself leaving my kids with a 10 year old.

@sandtrich

I firmly disagree with the State of Maine on charging a 10 y/o with manslaughter. I'd be closer to charging the parents for leaving a child with a child.

So were you going to share your source because I don't see where in this article that it says the 10 year old was the babysitter?

Maybe wait until you actually know what happened before you start passing judgement.

@Chloe18

ditto

From the link in the article- "Police say a babysitter called police to report that the infant was not breathing, but police declined to say Thursday if the 10-year-old was the sitter."

I made a comment but am deleting after reading more information on this story.

Backcountry.....if the 10 year old was NOT the baby sitter then the article would have said so....

I started baby sitting my siblings at 10 years old. I was obviously responsible enough and nothing ever happened to us. I was informed, I had numbers to call in case of an emergency. It depends on the child. This story doesn't have enough facts or information to know what happened.

if the 10 year old was NOT the baby sitter then the article would have said so....

At this point, not necessarily. The police declined to say if the 10 year old was the babysitter or not. There is a chance the 10 year old was the sitter, there is also a chance that the 10 year old was not the sitter. If the 10 year old was the sitter, I would want to know why a 10 year old was babysitting at all, especially an infant. 10 seems much to young to be babysitting. If the 10 year old was not babysitting, I would want to know why the 10 year old and infant were not being properly supervised by the babysitter to prevent this from happening.

Sounds liked the Zimmerman case. The media jumps on it before it has any facts and NBC even cuts a 911 tape to make it more sensational. Await the facts.

What a sad story. Poor Baby, may she rest in peace. Poor 10 year old, who may have just made a childish mistake that ended in tragedy. For all we know she was playing with the baby and the baby got hurt, I refuse to believe in the worse of a 10 year old without further proof. I am going to hold on to the belief that it was an honest awful mistake. May God bring peace to this family.

The article doesn't mention who the babysitter was. I doubt that the 10 year old was actually doing the babysitting, more likely her mother was the sitter. As several have mentioned, the article is very short on information and makes it virtually impossible to make any kind of intelligent judgements.

I was going to say the same thing, greenchilegranny. The article only stated that the baby died after being left with a babysitter. Child murderers should just be destroyed. They can't and shouldn't make an attempt to fix her. She should never be allowed another chance to hurt someone.

Whether or not the 10 yr is mature enough to babysit depends on the 10 yr old. Although in this case, it would seem the answer is no, I've known cases where the 10 yr old was mature enough. Years ago I had a friend who had 7 children ranging in age from 16 years to 6 months. When she had to have a sitter, the 10 yr old did the sitting. She was far more mature than her 16 and 14 year old brothers. She never had a problem caring for the other 4 children, all younger than her. Of course, I lived next door and she could always come get me when an emergency occurred.

The article says the 10 year old lives at the babysitters house.

Charge the babysitter. She was supposed to be the one watching the baby.

Please read the article. It makes it very clear that the 10 year old was not the sitter.

"The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old lived in the sitter's home."

sandtrich, Where did it say the 10 year old was the baby sitter? The article said "The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old lived in the sitter's home" Pay attention to what your are reading before making stupid comments.

All these comments about who the sitter was...can't you read?!? It clearly states, that the "10 year-old lives in the sitters home", therefore, wouldn't it be logical to separate the sitter from the 10 year-old?

Still..the article says absolutely nothing as to WHY. So, children do this often....for kicks? Accident? Geez msn.

Three months old is too young to leave with anyone except the child's parents.

Temper tantrums afflict those of all ages, and as the story states, even a seven year old is capable of murder.

Why would anyone think that a child under age 15 is fit to babysit? And that is assuming that the child was babysitting* (which the article implies quite clearly within the first 4 paragraphs), as what the article does state is that the mother worked with the regular babysitter--but the article does not say that the adult was the one in charge here.

Don't get me wrong, but my mother only allowed me to babysit when I reached the age of 15. And even then? I was never to discipline the children in any other way other than verbally, and if I felt that things were getting out of control, I was to call the parents first, advise them of the situation, ask them to return, and then call home and ask to be picked up.

I don't understand why anyone thinks a child under age 15 has the maturity necessary to accept that babies cry, have needs and must be comforted. And in some cases, 15 year olds aren't all that mature, either, so it's really a matter of being a good judge of character.

Click HERE for more information on the what happened.

I posted this else where but can't hurt with a second post.

Apparently the babysitter's kid did the killing.. I quoted the article below.. Just horrendous.

Serious PJAM09 troll much, this isn't a political issue, and I hope people collapse you for being a troll. Have you ever thought trolling is for the simple minded, because Trolls can't come up with original thoughts of their own to add to a forum/blog/conversation.

J_P- I don't agree that 3 months is too young to leave with anyone except the parents. My daughter was in day care at 6 weeks old. That is not uncommon. Besides that, by 3 months, the parents probably need at least a short break from being around the baby to recharge. It is much healthier for all involved for parent to take a break from their kids.

Regarding the article, I think there is too much information still being withheld at this point to make any kind of an intelligent response to what happened. We have no idea. Did the babysitter leave the room for a minute to heat up a bottle and the 10 year old decided to pick up the baby and then drop her? Did the babysitter leave the house and leave the 10 year old in charge and the 10 year old actually kill the baby because it was jealous of the baby? It could be either of those or a million other scenarios that fall somewhere in between. I am going to hold my opinions on the case until we have a few more details.

I read in the article thats says the 10yr old was the babysitters' daughter, but it doesn't say what happened or how the baby died. Another NBC incomplete report.

Summary- Okay try number three for people that cant click on hyperlinks.. It states the baby had been suffocated, and had ingested meds.. Baby is three months old and had bruises, black eye, and other marks on her face. Click the >>>HERE<<< for the original article taken from Washington Post..

PORTLAND, Maine — A 10-year-old girl was charged Thursday with manslaughter in the death of an infant whose mother said had ingested medication and been suffocated.

The girl, who is not being identified, is the youngest person to be charged with manslaughter in Maine in at least 25 years. The infant, Brooklyn Foss-Greenaway, of Clinton in central Maine, had been left overnight with an adult baby sitter in nearby Fairfield.

The sitter called police early July 8 to report that the infant was not breathing, authorities said. Emergency workers who arrived minutes later reported that child was unresponsive.

The death of any child under age 3 triggers an automatic investigation in Maine, and detectives uncovered some “troubling signs” before the state medical examiner declared the death a homicide, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the Maine Department of Public Safety.

The death was declared a homicide Wednesday, but investigators withheld further details on the cause of death.

Brooklyn’s mother, Nicole “Nicki” Greenaway, of Clinton, said the 10-year-old was the sitter’s daughter. Authorities told her the baby had ingested medication to treat attention-deficit disorder and been suffocated, she said, adding that she also saw bruises on her daughter’s body.

“I feel a little bit of relief that they’re charging her daughter at this point, but the mom really needs to be responsible. She’s the one I left my daughter with,” Greenaway said.

The 10-year-old girl was already in the custody of the Maine Department of Health and Human Services when a summons was delivered to her attorney on Thursday, McCausland said.

Police declined to identify the girl, who is due in juvenile court in October. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

Greenaway said that the 10-year-old had changed her baby’s diaper in the past, but that she had told the sitter an adult needed to be present at all times. Instead, the infant, who was reportedly fussy that night, was sleeping in a portable crib in the same room as the 10-year-old, Greenaway said.

When Greenaway finally saw her daughter at a funeral home, the infant had a black eye, bruises on the bridge of her nose and marks that looked like fingerprints on her cheeks, she said.

McCausland said he couldn’t comment on whether charges could be brought against the sitter. A person who answered the phone at a listing for her said Thursday evening that she was not available. The AP is not naming the sitter because it could make the juvenile suspect’s identity known.

The charge against the 10-year-old was filed after detectives consulted with the attorney general’s office, which determined manslaughter was most appropriate, said Brenda Kielty, a spokeswoman.

Unlike murder, which generally involves an intentional act, manslaughter charges are brought when a homicide is caused by reckless actions or criminal negligence.

The charge is extremely unusual because of the defendant’s age.

The state doesn’t have data on the youngest person ever to be charged in a homicide in Maine, Kielty said. But it’s been at least 25 years — and possibly longer — since someone so young has been charged with manslaughter or murder in the state, officials said.

Nonetheless, such cases aren’t unprecedented.

In January, a 10-year-old was taken into custody after a 12-year-old was stabbed to death in El Cajon, Calif. And a Florida boy was convicted in 2001 of killing a 6-year-old playmate when he was 12.

God, is literacy that much of a problem still??

The article said the 10 year old is the daughter of the babysitter.

No wonder republicans can just say anything at all to ya'll.

@Rontron, the examiner hasn't released that information. That point was made in the article, but I guess if you can't blame Obama, blame MSNBC. Or blame the fact that you can't read.

the article clearly states that the 10 year old was the daughter of the babysitter. the question is:

how much responsibility for babysitting did the babysitter/mother delegate to her 10 yr old daughter? too much i suspect.

Charging 10 year old's and younger with crimes? Good Gwad Almighty! What sort of society are we becoming? There is never a valid reason to do such to children. Go after their parents. Keep your gwaddamn hands off the kids! If they don't have parents grab some of the citizens who have failed these kids, because , aye Gwad, we all have! The very goddamn idea!?

To those of you saying that information is in the article. Sometimes they update an article with more information without putting the word "Update", so what we are reading right now may not be what someone read 5 minutes ago.

just because all the facts are not known is not a reason not to publish an article. just because all of your curiosity isn't fully satisfied by an article is not a reason to say it should not have been written.

how about if woodward and bernstien had waited till all the facts were known to write about watergate? at some point, waiting for all facts stops being prudent and becomes censorship.

Taken directly from above article:

The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old is the daughter of the babysitter, the Bangor Daily News reported. Greenaway said she works with the woman at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Waterville.

Please just read the article before making comments. J_P Clearly you are not aware that not all families can afford to have a stay at home parent. It is nice that you can afford it though. Since Daycare facilities start accepting infants at 6 weeks old they must know what you clearly don't

You all don't need to be snarky. They didn't have that information in the article when it first went up.

Sad story, so many ruined lives.....

Am I the only one that read that the 10 year old is the daughter OF the babysitter?

EatDirt- As I said above, many times they update an article with more information without putting the word "Update", so what we are reading right now may not be what someone read 5 minutes ago.

We could be commenting in completely different information.

Well you clearly can't read anyone else's comments EatDirt.

Dunno how they are even considering charging the kid as an adult. She's not an adult. She hasn't even hit puberty. There are more appropriate charges and punishments for a child her age.

Can't even imagine what the poor mother is going thru.

@AreYouBuyingThis?

Backcountry.....if the 10 year old was NOT the baby sitter then the article would have said so....

Whoops, guess not.

“I feel a little bit of relief that they’re charging her daughter at this point, but the mom really needs to be responsible. She’s the one I left my daughter with,” Greenaway said.

in every article i read, including the MSNBC version, it stated, "DAUGHTER OF THE BABYSITTER". and in this case i agree with the mother 110%! it was the babysitter who should be held accountable. the 10yr old should be seeing a therapist. while the mother sits time for child endagerment resulting in death. and i am sure there could be a ton of other charges well deserving of an adult vs a 10yr old girl, with a darwin award parent.

The 10 yr. old is the DAUGHTER of the BABYSITTER. The 10 yr. old wasn't babysitting. She apparently simply wondered what it would be like to choke an infant and watch what it would do?

*wierd chit in a child's mind* She probably didn't want to KILL the baby...just was 'curious' about like I said.

Regardless, the mother of the girl should be the one held responsible.

Lkessler I started to baby sit when I was 12, and I was a mother helper alot to church people. I also helped in the church nursery it really depends on the person, and child. I agree 10 is too young but alot. I was fourteen when I was left alone with a baby the first time. I was trusted alot by people I still i'm.

People shouldn't post their thoughts without first reading the article. Too many here think the baby was left alone with the 10 yr old. Not so. To Burdena Hannah H; commenting on your age when you started babysitting is totally irrelevant to this story.

Again, it states:

The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old is the daughter of the babysitter, the Bangor Daily News reported. Greenaway said she works with the woman at a medical facility in Waterville, ME.

The mother of the baby said the 10 year old was the daughter OF the babysitter

This tells me that "ALL" children watch too much TV. No child (in my mind) would kill an infant or another child without being influenced by violence on television.

Just my opinion.

What a terrible shame man. So so cute and adorable.....RIP little one...

• For those of you posting that it "says" in the story that the girls was the babysitters daughter, MSN updated the story to say this "after" they posted that because MSN didn't originally mention this.

Calico: Thank you for the far more complete report from the WA Post.

Incredible that the mother of the 10 y/o isn't being named because the child could be ID'd. Take some responsibility, chickie--the child was left with you, not the 10 year old, so it was your responsibility to not only watch the baby, but your own child.

And how irresponsible to leave a 3 month old in a portable crib. This wouldn't occur to me (and I have twins who are barely a month old and a two year old toddler, and it wouldn't cross my mind to leave my toddler with my twins, alone, because horrors can happen with a children when your back is turned for a split second).

Your welcome, at 6pm MSN didn't have any information up besides 10 year old child was in the homeof the babysitter and the child was arrested for manslaughter. Someone said to check the Washington Post, and I decided to come over here with the information so people would stop ASSuming the child was the babysitter.

People still haven't bothered to read my long post and I thank you LKessler for doing so. People are still saying it was an accident even after I posted that ridiculously long post. It's not an accident if the three month old had ingested medication for ADHD, was bruised up pretty bad, blackened eye, and smothered. My three month olds were able to grab things and bring them to their mouth but they didn't have the fine motor skills needed to pick a carpet goober (pill size) up til they were damn near 6 months old, then all gloves were off and they were vacuum cleaners that I couldn't let out of my sight.

I don't know what to take from a ten year old doing such a thing. First thought is a child doesn't have the sensibility to understand their actions, but I look at my ten year old daughter and I know she would come tell me that baby was fussy (has when we babysat and I had to use the bathroom), i think she would try to play with baby, but I could see her getting frustrated but not to the point of hurting, shoving pills down babies throat, and then suffocating baby. I would like to believe that children are innocent, but if she did this, it makes me wonder about her home life and where she learned the behavior from? Parenting is a learned behavior.

If the babysitter was frustrated enough from what i read in another article to push fussy baby in to the 10 year olds bedroom to escape fussy baby, what was going on in her mind to think the 10 year old was going to be better suited to handle an upset baby. The babysitter needs to take accountability on all levels for what has happened, whether it's the fact her daughter has learned this behavior or the fact she put the baby in danger by placing her with a child with this type of temperament. The kid could have some seriously deep rooted issues she is acting out in anger because she doesn't have the words to explain what is going on. So many different ways to look at this.

The original article posted sometime YESTERDAY did not say anything about the 10-year old at all. Please look at TIMESTAMPS before you call people stupid and illiterate.

This kid's a monster. I'm sorry but no normal 10 year old would do this, not even in anger. Normally when kids get mad they run to their parents because their parents start teaching kids before they can walk and talk that hurting others is not okay. What normal child would even think of grabbing pills and pushing them down a baby's throat? What normal child even knows how to suffocate someone?

The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old is the daughter of the babysitter, the Bangor Daily News reported. Greenaway said she works with the woman at a medical facility in Waterville, ME

I am amazed at the number of "readers" that lack reading comprehension skills. Plus why wasn't the babysitter charged with a crime, she was the one responsible for caring for the child and it happened on her watch.

The original article posted sometime YESTERDAY did not say anything about the 10-year old at all. Please look at TIMESTAMPS before you call people stupid and illiterate.

Yes, please don't be critical of people for jumping the gun and making wild, baseless assumptions about a story that was obviously incomplete. /sarcasm

So a 10 year old has access to enough ADD medicine and has the ability to get an infant to swallow it? I find this highly unlikely. I suspect the mother of the 10-year old is using her daughter to get away with murder. Is the 10 year old mentally retarded? No child with anything close to normal cognitive abilities jumps from "baby keeping me awake" to "I'll solve this by suffocating the baby" instead of complaining, whining, temper tantrum, etc. Babysitter is the criminal.

The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old is the daughter of the babysitter, the Bangor Daily News reported. Greenaway said she works with the woman at a medical facility in Waterville, ME.

Who leaves a 10 year old in charge of a three month baby?!!!! The adults should take responsibility not the 10 year old child!!!

CalicoWhispers - Thank you for posting additional info. In reading what you posted, it said that the baby was sleeping in the same room as the 10 year old and was apparently fussy that night. In my mind, and understanding that some 10 year olds lack the maturity to deal with a fussy baby, she might have done what she thought needed to be done to quiet the baby down without bothering her mother. Maybe she wasn't actively trying to be malicious. If there were ADHD meds in the house, then they either belonged to her or one of her siblings. She might know that she (or the sibling) has had behavior problems, and because of that, she (or sibling) had to take those meds. Maybe in her immature brain, she reasoned that this baby needed to take the meds to calm down and sleep, and in giving the baby pills to swallow, she unintentionally suffocated the baby. At this point, without knowing more about the 10 year old, it is really hard for me to believe that she intentionally killed the baby. As for those who are saying the babysitter should not have left the 3 month old in the same room, sleeping with the 10 year old, I don't know. Maybe that is true. But I know that I would never, in a million years, believe my child would harm another child, so would probably not have thought that she shouldn't be left alone with her. I know lots of parents who put their infant children in the same bedroom with older kids. I also know lots of parents who are too freaked out to let a baby sleep in a separate room from themselves until the kid is 5! So, while many of us might have done things differently, I think that the babysitter probably thought it would be fine to let the baby and her daughter sleep in the same room. Very easy to second guess someone after something bad has happened.

MQ1968 seriously... reading is good. Fun even. The 10 year old's MOTHER was the babysitter.

so... I'm confused as to how the baby died? "Not breathing", so suffocation?? wth, details pls!

Awsome reporting...................................?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?!?!? No wonder Ameerika is dumbing down.

Actually - since "we" all know that when NBC"News" takes an article from a different place - it's best to read it in it's original form... the links are in the article -

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/08/30/news/mid-maine/10-year-old-girl-charged-with-manslaughter-in-death-of-clinton-baby/?ref=mostReadBoxNews

Then from the Bangor, Maine article (link above) you can see a later printed article:

http://bangordailynews.com/2012/08/31/news/maine-mom-blames-sitter-too-for-babys-death/?ref=mostReadBoxNews

NBC shouldn't have to walk anyone through how to find the "real" news that it poorly summarizes each day.

For the record, the baby was killed two months ago - the mother of the deceased baby would like charges pressed against the woman she paid to babysit her child - the woman is a coworker of hers.

That woman ( the babysitter) had/has (the child is in custody with the Maine Department of Health and Human Services) a ten year old child who the police believe gave the baby ADHD drugs and apparently the baby was "fussy," so the adult put the baby in a crib in her 10 year old child's room for the night. At the funeral home - the baby's mother noticed the black eye and bruises on the baby's face.

I, personally, think that the person who should be charged with manslaughter or negligent homicide is the woman (adult) who was supposed to watch the baby. Apparently, and tragically, the adult woman was not watching EITHER child. Put her in jail, I don't think that a 10 year old fully understands that they can kill a baby. If the 10 year old thought her pills were good for her, then she probably thought they would be good for a "fussy" baby...that's 10 year old logic.

wow, a bay is dead and a 10 year old little girl now has blood on her hands (allegedly), and all you degenerates can do is spout political rhetoric or squabble over how the article was written.

Have you ever heard of an update?

What a horrible and tragic situation.

baby, not bay. I just wanted to clear that up before someone else did for me.

Yea, I could definitely think a child on ADHD medicine would assume their pills would be just as good for someone else "acting up". Which is often how ADD behavior is described to the child by parent's and teachers.

The girl would also likely be easily frustrated (even more so than a normal 10 year old, which aren't exactly stoic creatures to begin with).

Thank you Sally Lu.

Finally someone with some common sense on here. How can you all believe that is ok to charge the mother of a killer for something she had no control or knowledge of. Now if she was right there watching it and not trying to stop it then just charge her as well, but it looks to me to have happened just as Sally says in post 1.52. I can most definitey see this as a possiblity. If the 10 yr knows that the ADD medicine helps her with her behavior, she could have reasoned that it may help the baby, and when the baby was choking on the pills the bruises could have been caused by the 10 yr old trying to get the pill back and stop the baby from choking. Why in this case, would we then turn around and punish the mother when all she did was let the 2 sleep in the same room which to most people is the normal wouldnt think twice about doing it reaction. It is a horrible tragedy, but I can not fathom being punished for my kids mistakes, Last I knew we were still in a democratic republic not a communist dictatorship.

the 10 yr old tried to kill an 8 month old a month prior to this episode in the same fashion:

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/213539/2/Former-roommate-says-10yr-old-drugged-her-infant

The 10 y/o was not the babysitter. This article states this.

The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old is the daughter of the babysitter, the Bangor Daily News reported. Greenaway said she works with the woman at a medical facility in Waterville, ME.

@Creek Dog: to blame too much television as the cause for children who murder other children is just plain silly. Children have been murdering other children long before the violence of TV, video games, or music.

For instance, let's consider the case of Jesse Pomeroy who was born in 1859. He began his cruelty against other children at the age of 11. This included kidnapping, torture, and murder. I don't think TV was a factor. This child was just a bad child.

Or let's consider the case of 10 y/o murderer Mary Bell. She was born in 1957 and was incarcerted for murdering 2 young boys. I don't think tv was a factor for her either.

Here's an article about several child killers and I don't think you can blame television on their crimes.

I will never understand why people want to blame something else for a child's actions. No it is NOT Marilyn Manson's fault Columbine happened. Klebold and Harris are to blame for that. It is not a video games fault that a child shoots up his school or kills her parents. Sometimes kids are just wired wrong and they do bad things. I realize it's horrible to think a child can be capable of such horrific acts, but they've been doing this for ages. The sooner we accept this maybe we can start identifying the warning signs and heading their violent behaviour off at the pass. That's one of the biggest problems I see with many children and their parents these days. No one wants to believe their child is bad so the excuses fly every time the child does something bad. We need to hold the child responsible for his/her actions. By the age of 10 you know murder is wrong and if you commit murder you deserve some kind of reprecussions.

Actually, there is more to this story than what this article is saying. In fact, this article is woefully incomplete and gives the total wrong impression regarding the parents of the infant. The infant had been left in the care of the 10 year girl's mother at their home. The baby was then apparently put to sleep in the same room with the 10 year old girl. The 10 year old was not the babysitter and not the person the parents left their infant in the care of. It seems that the 10 year old girl's mother should be investigated as well. She had an infant left in her care, put the baby to sleep in the room with her 10 year old, and failed miserably to monitor what was going on in the room. It sounds like the 10 year old then did something to the infant that led to the babies death. As a minimum it sounds like the mother of the 10 year old was extremely negligent in her care of the baby left in her charge by the parents.

I found this information by going to other, more reliable news sources that believe in telling the whole story, not just a part of it to get sensational headlines and reactions.

well thank you becuase i was trully lost here..it is the parents fault if she was not monitoring that room i have 8 children nd now 12 grands i am a panick button when it comes to all of them ..my freinds say i need to let them b kids from the time i was rasing mine nd still say the same when they see me with my grands ..u kno wat i say kids will b kids that y we r the adults..watch them as much as possible..till today not one has had a broken bone or stitch n my care...so im proud of my ova protectiveness..poor little girl n baby\

Thanks JS for injecting some reason and objectivity into this thread.

What is it about the human animal that fits all circumstance to their own agenda? Makes Olympic leaps to conclusions without a shred of evidence on which to base them?

Conversely, will call purple orange if purple threatens their comfort zone?

Pretty good speculation, JS in JD.

I can imagine a scenario in which the infant was left with the child, the infant wailed as infant sometimes do, and the child may have attempted to quiet the infant in some fashion.

Is this the best the authorities can do? Can't find an adult to be responsible?

@HRDawg - It is not speculation, it is the actual facts. I actually bothered to check some other sources to get the whole story, realizing that the article on this site was far from complete. I guess reading comprehension is not your strong suit, since I clearly said this in my original post.

eunice, please type like an adult and not a teenager texting her friends.

Although I'm not saying this is what happened, I understand this story more. The adult baby sitter puts the infant in her daughter's room so she doesn't have to listen to the baby crying. The 10 year old daughter, who can't sleep because of the babies' crying, puts a pillow or something else over the baby to muffle the sound. Baby dies and it is all blamed on the 10 year old girl.

If the parents of an infant left her in the care of a 10 year old, they should be the ones charged with manslaughter.

I still would want to know what the 10 year old did exactly. If the baby was crying did she put a pillow over her head to quiet her and not wake her parents for some reason? Or was it malicious jealousy? Or was she wanting a cuddle with the baby and brought her into her bed only to smother her with her blankets in her sleep?

I also question the mother of the 10 year old allowing her daughter to take the wrap for this.

Not sure if the article above is the only one, or if it has been edited, but it says the ten year old lived in the babysitter's home.

The 10 yo lives with the sitter. Still sad to see a child so young leave the world just as soon as she was experiencing it.

I found an article in the Washington Post that quotes the infant's mother as saying that her daughter had ingested a medication for attention deficit disorder and been smothered. It also goes on to say that the infant's mother saw bruises on the baby's body, although it doesn't say where the bruises were.

There isn't enough info here to figure out much of anything, but as for the issue of 10-yr-olds babysitting, my mother, at the age of 10, was left babysitting 5 younger children all summer long because all of the mothers worked long hours in the factories and had no other childcare options. Sad for her because she never had a childhood at all. But in days of yore, 10-yr-olds were indeed responsible enough to babysit.

Click HERE for the article with more information.

Brooklyn’s mother, Nicole “Nicki” Greenaway, of Clinton, said the 10-year-old was the sitter’s daughter. Authorities told her the baby had ingested medication to treat attention-deficit disorder and been suffocated, she said, adding that she also saw bruises on her daughter’s body.

“I feel a little bit of relief that they’re charging her daughter at this point, but the mom really needs to be responsible. She’s the one I left my daughter with,” Greenaway said.

Wow to force meds down a babies throat, and suffocate the baby takes some real anger. They need to figure out what the hell went wrong with the 10 year old, in this case I blame the babysitter for being irresponsible and neglectful.

Holy @!$%#.. I can't read much more after this part

Greenaway said that the 10-year-old had changed her baby’s diaper in the past, but that she had told the sitter an adult needed to be present at all times. Instead, the infant, who was reportedly fussy that night, was sleeping in a portable crib in the same room as the 10-year-old, Greenaway said.

When Greenaway finally saw her daughter at a funeral home, the infant had a black eye, bruises on the bridge of her nose and marks that looked like fingerprints on her cheeks, she said.

For everyone claiming that the 10 year old was the babysitter, you have incredibly poor comprehension skills. Eighth paragraph down - The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old is the daughter of the babysitter, the Bangor Daily News reported. Greenaway said she works with the woman at MaineGeneral Medical Center in Waterville.

73angel - before you start insulting people you should know that the article was updated to include more information AFTER people were complaining about it being too vague and wondering about a 10 year old babysitting. They threw up a bare ones article at first, then clarified it later, rather than taking the time to put a comprehensive thought together the first time.

All part of the 24 hour news cycle that pushes reporters to break the story "first"

this girl should not be charged with anything- babies die, quite frankly who cares if they do

JS - bit of a leap to negligence on the part of the adult babysitter. Did this happen at night? Seems to me it's kind of difficult to monitor children while you're sleeping, which people usually do at night.

Our son started sleeping thru the night at 2 months, and after that we usually put the bassinet in his own room, and the second boy in the room with his brother. By 3 or 4 months they were both sleeping in cribs in their room. So it's not unusual.

There is no circumstance whatsoever that would allow the charging of a ten year old as an adult.

None.

Culheath, deliberately putting pills down a 3 months old throat and then suffocating them to the point of visable bruising , black eyes etc...

That is an adult action of MURDER

and frankly for a 10 yr old to have the audacity to do this speaks volumes of what kind of an adult they will be.

Thats not a redeemable human. Charge her, if guilty, lock her up and throw away the keys. Don't allow her to try this again on anyone's child. normal 10 yr olds dont kill babies like this.

Yes, Capt Tripps, it happened at night. The baby was in a portable crib overnight in the 10 year old's room. Yes, it is negligence on the part of the babysitter, because at that point, she had relegated her duties to her 10 year old child instead of keeping the baby she was responsible for WITH HER.

What duties does she have while sleeping? What did she regulate to the 10 year old (who one imagines was also supposed to be sleeping)? Perhaps that's where the child always sleeps.= when this person is babysitting. Like I said, that's not so unusual. Kid's sleep in kid's rooms.

Please enough tell me how that would be child negligence? Because the sitter didn't have the children glued to her? Honestly people are complete idiots anymore. My daughter has her own room and sleeps alone. Does this mean that I should be charged with negligence too? No simple fact is no parent (or sitter in this case) should have the child on them 24/7. Kids need to feel like they can be trusted at times (in this case the 10yo should be at least questioned to see if she even intended any harm to the baby before an full fledged manslaughter charge.) I've learned It's easier to teach responsibility this way. And before anyone says "why not just let them fend for themselves" try to think before you say something stupid.

Thank you and have a pleasant day

Genenut

Culheath, deliberately putting pills down a 3 months old throat and then suffocating them to the point of visable bruising , black eyes etc...

That is an adult action of MURDER

Not if performed by a 10 yr old.

A 10 yr old does not have the brain development to be treated like an adult or held to adult standards of culpability. And if you think they do, you don't understand children at all.

I understand children, this 10 yr old is a SOCIOPATH.

Culheath please grow a brain. At age 10 I knew right from wrong (granted it still didn't stop me from doing the things i did) any child who can murder another and know what they're doing should be charged as an adult

Genenut

I understand children, this 10 yr old is a SOCIOPATH.

No, you do not understand children and further more you should not be allowed anywhere near them. They are not miniature adults.

#2.26 - Fri Aug 31, 2012 8:17 PM EDT

TheWhiteJudge

Culheath please grow a brain. At age 10 I knew right from wrong (granted it still didn't stop me from doing the things i did) any child who can murder another and know what they're doing should be charged as an adult

Why... what would be the purpose of charging them as an adult? I see that as nothing more abrogating your adult responsibilities.

It's all about the mentality (not saying the kid was insane) Think of it like this You murder someone at a young age while knowing what you're doing you grow a sort of reasoning for killing so then it becomes an addiction (i shortened that speech about 8 paragraphs) You'd use it as a stress reliever or to get even with someone

That's a lot of uh....bull@!$%# there.

Culheath

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/213539/2/Former-roommate-says-10yr-old-drugged-her-infant

This a 10 yr old sociopath. Not the actions of a child. Stop defending her unless you want her to babysit anyone you love.

Please read some of the other posts, the 10 year old's MOTHER was babysitting, not the 10 year old.

No the 10 year old was not the babysitter, she was the babysitter's kid, and they will not say how the baby died. This is nuts. A 10 year old is not competent to be tried for the death of another so it's a waste of time charging her.

Read the case of the 8 year old boy in St. Johns, AZ that killed his father and the father's friend....and he meant to... sometimes kids are not just being kids. The circumstances have not been explained, we need to wait.

As I recall, the Arizona boy was being molested and abused by his father and Daddy's buddy. The mother of the 10 year old should be held accountable for the infants death.

That was rumored and was speculation brought on by the estranged wife/mother. Read it...it's pretty evil. The boy has had more "conflict" in the facility he is in after he couldn't follow the terms while living with his mother. Sometimes we just have to accept that sometimes there is no one to blame other than the person that did the crime. Our society is WAY too quick to blame everyone but the perpetrator, including the victim, thus we have folks unable to take responsibility and be held accountable. Let's just see how this one plays out though... who knows? Maybe wasnt' the 10 yr old being malicious.

A 10 year old is not mature or knowledgeable enough to be held responsible. Babysitter will burn in hell and deserves it.

I disagree, Mo. If a 6 year old was responsible I would say they didn't understand. A ten year old has a pretty strong grasp on the results of violence, and that death is permanent. Ten year olds are capable of understanding what results in death. Of course, we don't know exactly what happened - this could really come down to being a tragic accident that occured in play. I have known families where playing near stairs caused a teen to break his neck and later die.

I agree with Texas-353536; And the mother of this 10 yr old should be questioned on the otherwise recent behavior. The girl (4th or 5th grade) was well aware of harming this baby. I think a 10 yr old capable of hurting a baby with intent to kill would have previously demonstrated extreme anger. Was this mother in denial that her child has extreme abnormal behavior, dismissing prior incidents? I can't believe the girl turned into a monster overnight. Prior incidents of violent behavior may surface. This was out of control jealousy.

I believe you need to reread the article. it clearly states that the 10 year old was the *Daughter of the babysitter.

A 10 year old should know right from wrong, but she might not understand the permanence of death at age 10. She might not understand how fragile a 3 month old is. Who says the girl beat the baby? At this point we don't know what happened.

Yes, what is wrong with everyone that they leap to judgement without knowing half of the circumstances?

If that is your child, Nicole, I hope you are teaching him/her the value of sound reasoning and critical thinking.

I agree that a baby should not be in the care of a 10 year old, but it doesn't sound from other articles like that was the case. The baby was apparently left with the 10 year old's mother and put to sleep in her room, maybe there was a crib there, etc., I don't know. Nevertheless, it sounds as if the mother did not adequately monitor the baby. Just because the 10 year old caused the death, it doesn't make her evil. She might simply have been trying to console the baby while it was crying and dropped it. There is way too little information to be referring to a 10 year old girl at this point as "evil effing children". If, the investigation reveals that the 10 year old acted out of malice, I am still not sure she should be tried as an adult because a 10 year old doesn't process things like an adult. She would definitely need ongoing psychiatric care however and any other available program to rehabiltate her. If the investigation reveals that the mother failed to adequately supervise either child, she should face charges.

Did you not catch the part about "must be able to prove that they acted out of evil to cause the death". I simply said a 10 yo beating a child would be reason to do so.

Maybe she stabbed the kid, maybe she was playing and something bad happened. Who knows what happened to that baby?

I sincerely hope that this was an accident caused by play - maybe the baby rolled off a couch and landed badly or near stairs or dropped when playing "airplane". Unlikely, but possible. Of course, in complete honesty, I have known people whose babies did roll off couches/beds or were dropped and those children were perfectly fine when mom and dad took them to the ER. So I really have to think something deliberate had to be done. God thats an awful thought.

ugh, the baby had a black eye, bruised face, finger print bruises on her face, pills crammed down her throat because I doubt a baby at 3 months old can freely take pills and suffocated.. I would say none of that was accidental. I have posted the article many times that states why this child is being charged with manslaughter.

sounds accidental when you put it that way. she could have smothered her in her sleep... how do you charge a child for that? It's not like she knew what she was doing...

condolences to the families and your community. The article had no information at all!

I hate when this stuff happens. A child is just a child. I have no idea what happened. I hope that the child was not reponsable for the other death.

I am wondering if the baby was placed in the bed with the 10 year old, or had her own sleeping area? The way you state the details, it sounds accidental.

Xina, possibly the baby wasn't breathing because the 10 year old put a pillow over it's face because it was crying at 1 AM? Why else would the 10 year old be awake to know that the baby was not breathing? She just decided to wake up in the middle of the night to check the baby?

If the baby was sleeping peacefully, how could she have gotten a black eye and ingested meds? Babies don't have enough control over their bodies to open pill bottles and eat the contents. I guess the lilttle girl got tired of her crying and tried to quite her in the middle of the night. SAD

Sigh... to me, what is tragic, is people who can't read the article and other comments following it.

They were sleeping, as this happened at 1:30 in the morning. Apparently, this girl has other issues since she's told classmates that she wants to kill them and dance on their graves.

I disagree. Ask any 10 year old if killing is wrong. I am betting all but the most disturbed say yes, it is wrong.

Krrock, I try to avoid fixating on spelling and grammar on these sites but I have to chuckle at your "Wholly cow", - it would make a good Burger King advert.

And yes, this is a serious story so humor is probably out-of line.

Unfortunately, the reporting is so weak that we really have nothing to go on. If, as some comments above say, the baby and the 10-year-old were simply sleeping in the same room, all of these comments about the 10-year-old being put in a supervisory position are off-base.

if she's guilty then 99 years in prison with out prole

At 10yrs, she'll be charged as a juvenile.

Most children develop a conscience, know right from wrong, starting at about age 8. A 10-year-old definitely knows it's wrong to abuse a baby. She obviously doesn't have the reasoning ability of an adult, but I'm sure she knew what she was doing was wrong and could kill the baby. But being only 10, she would have difficulty with impulse control. Maybe that's why she's being charged with manslaughter instead of murder.

The mother of the 10-year-old should be charged with negligent homicide. Parents are responsible for the actions of their minor children. I realize parents can't predict what their children will do, but legally they are still responsible.

Reading this article will leave you with more questions than answers! Pitiful reporting job.

Maybe you should work on reading comprehension a little before you worry about the laws in Maine.

I babysat younger brothers and sisters for 45 minutes while my mom went to the store. I was very responsible at that age. It only happened a few times. (I was almost 11)

were your siblings 3 months old though? theres a big difference between taking care of a baby and taking care of a kid who you know you can control. Babies can be overwhelming at times.

People please learn to read everything..UGH

The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old is the daughter of the babysitter, the Bangor Daily News reported. Greenaway said she works with the woman at a medical facility in Waterville, ME.

NOW this is just MY opinion. But I do not think a 10 yr old is capable of completely understanding right from wrong. I don't think they can wrap their little brains around what really happens when people die. That they never come back/talk/walk or anything again.

I do think the babysitter should be charged though. It is her responsibility to watch after the baby and her own child, not the child watch after the baby.

really there are two different scenarios here: #1- the babysitter had no idea her 10 year old daughter would be capable of something like this. What was the babysitter supposed to do, stay awake all night long and monitor the children? When my husband's two young daughter's come to spend the weekends with us they share a room with my 11 year old daughter and I don't think twice about it. #2- the mom knew the daughter had violent tendencies and the 10 year old should never have been left alone with the baby. Even still, my husband's oldest daughter has very violent tendencies (she has been severely sexually and physically abused by her mother and her mother's endless supply of boyfriends) When she was awake I had to watch her very closely with her younger sister (they are 18 mo apart) or any other small children she would play with. She was in therapy while she lived with us and I still never thought twice about having her sleep alone in a room with her sister and my then 10 year old daughter. It all depends on the severity of her mental disorder. It sounds to me like all this little girls needs is some serious help and to find the root of her anger. In no way should she be charged, she needs to be helped!

If you have ever had a 10 year old sleeping in bed with you, they are all arms and legs. The best you can hope for is a concussion or a black eye before the night is through. To put a baby in a bed with a 10 year old is asking for trouble. Maybe the baby got physically shoved from the bed and hit its head? Regardless, I hope its death was accidental. I would hate to think that a 10 year old girl would be capable of intentional murder. (and yes, I know it has happened before)

They would not charge a 10 year old if it was SIDS !! Sounds like the baby was at day care to me ... whatever happened I hope the truth comes out. Horrible story.

The baby's mother, Nicole Greenaway, said the 10-year-old lived in the sitter's home, the Associated Press reported.

The kid LIVED with the sitter. Isn't that clear to anyone else?

Second important point. If it were an ACCIDENT, she wouldn't have been charged with manslaughter. She was old enough to PURPOSELY hurt a baby, and know what she was doing. She needs help, and society needs to be safe from her.

This is way too sad.. a 10 year old is a child, I cant imagine a 10 year old with malice in their mind, there is no 'bad' in them period... there has to be more to the story

i hope that 10 year old gets what he deserves omg what a freaking loser all killers deserve to die no matter what age geez im sick of people that take lives put him awhile till 18 then death penalty i hope his parents know what a loser they have for a kid screw the damn kid

I babysat at 10,my 6 month old sister,but only for the 15 minutes it took my mother to run an errand.I still think that 10 is too young because if an emergency had arose with my sibling,I wouldn't have known what to do.I shudder reading this story because this 10 year old's future is in jeopardy due to stupid adults.

It does not say that the 10 year old was the babysitter.

This article sucks, it leaves out lots of information. The 10 year old girl is the daughter of the mother the parents left their infant with. The mother put the infant in her 10 year old daughters room at night instead of her own room.

Jen31,I understand that but the 25 year old wasn't babysitting anybody otherwise this would not have happened.She put this 10 year old in jeopardy by her own 25 year old negligence.Is that more exacting for you?