‘Girl asked to care for murdered baby’

The mother of a two-month-old, who police suspect was beaten to death over the weekend by a friend’s 11-year-old daughter, said it was the girl who asked that the baby stay overnight with her and her mother.

Trina Whitehead, 31, of Cleveland, said she and the girl’s mother were best friends and that she never saw anything in the girl’s behaviour that concerned her. Whitehead said her two daughters, aged eight and seven, previously stayed the night at the friend’s home without any reported problems.

She said the 11-year-old seemed like a sweet girl.