Mother Accused Of Beating 2-Year-Old To Death After Girl's Cries Woke Baby

A mother of six from Minnesota has been accused of beating her 2-year-old daughter to death after the girl's cries woke up a sleeping baby.

Ciashia Lee, 29, of St. Paul, was charged on Monday with second-degree murder after allegedly striking her daughter repeatedly, causing fatal head injuries. The police also arrested her 42-year-old partner but have not charged him yet.

Lee admitted to the police that she had assaulted her child, Melody Vang, after refusing to stop crying. She told the police that she had "lost temper" and "just kept hitting her," reported news outlet Star Tribune.

The deputies responded to her home at 3:30 a.m. EST on Sunday and found the unresponsive child on the back porch of the house. The victim was rolled up in a blanket and a rug. She was not wearing anything except a diaper.

The authorities noticed that the child had large bruises on her face. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The couple told the police that they had moved Vang into the back porch so that her five other siblings, ranging in age from 8 months to 11 years, would not see her body.

According to Lee's partner, Vang started crying at around 4 p.m. EST on Saturday and kept waking up the sleeping infant. Lee got angry and took Vang to another room, where the alleged assault happened, reported People.

The partner told the police that he believed Lee had kept the child in the "timeout" closet in the hallway before the couple went to sleep. When the baby's cries woke them early in the morning, Lee asked him to go and check on Vang. He found Vang lying on the ground cold and unresponsive.

The couple allegedly called Lee's brother who advised them to report the incident to the police. Lee's partner admitted that he had witnessed her beating the child before but denied seeing the abuse on that fateful day.

The couple's landlord later told the police that he had seen Vang with bruises on the day of the incident. He said he had been disturbed by the sight, so he took photos of the victim. The landlord then contacted child services and reported the abuse. Vang died around 12 hours later.

The couple's five other children are now kept in state custody. Lee will face up to 40 years in prison if convicted. She remained in jail in lieu of a $1 million bail.