A 26-year-old woman is facing a murder charge nearly a year after a 4-year-old girl allegedly left in her care died of injuries she suffered from child abuse.
Asha Green was watching the pre-schooler, Cashawanna Love, for the girl’s mother on June 24, 2022 when paramedics were called to the girl’s home in the 7900 block of South Lawrence Avenue, according to Cook County prosecutors.
Earlier in the day, Green called the girl’s mother and told her that her daughter fallen, had stopped moving and was having trouble breathing, prosecutors said.
The girl’s mother, who was working at O’Hare Airport at the time, told Green not to call 911, but Green later did anyways, prosecutors said. When the girl’s mother left work early and returned home, paramedics were already there.
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The paramedics observed bruising on the girl’s face and body and she was taken to Comer Children’s Hospital, where she later died.
A paramedic reported allegedly hearing Green state “she could not believe she might go to jail over this” while efforts were being made to treat Cashawanna.
An autopsy conducted by the medical examiner’s office later determined the girl’s cause of death was multiple blunt force injuries from child abuse and her death was ruled a homicide, prosecutors said.
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The month before the girl’s death, Cashawanna was brought to a hospital for an infection from a burn on her foot that doctors believed was suspicious, prosecutors said. At the time, the girl’s mother said her daughter suffered the burn in her care and the state Department of Children and Family Services took custody.
Child welfare officials placed Cashawanna for a time with Green, who was romantically involved with the girl’s mother, according to prosecutors. Cashawanna was returned to her mother’s care a few weeks later.
Prosecutors said Green was actually watching Cashawanna at the time she suffered the burn to her foot, which Green allegedly told the girl’s mother in a text message happened when the girl was alone in a bathtub.
Green was taken into custody Friday afternoon, Chicago police records show.
Judge Maryam Ahmad ordered her held without bail during a hearing Saturday at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse.
Green was expected back in court Wednesday.
