FITCHBURG, MASS. (WHDH) - A Fitchburg couple was ordered held without bail Wednesday following their arraignment in connection with the suspicious death of their 6-year-old daughter, who police say was found with “extensive bruising of various ages over her entire body.”
Shana Pedroso, 37, pleaded not guilty in Fitchburg District Court to two counts of assault and battery on a child and two counts of reckless endangerment of a child. Marvin Brito, 38, pleaded not guilty to two counts of reckless endangerment of a child and two counts of permitting substantial injury to a child.
Both were ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing April 18.
State troopers and Fitchburg cops responded Tuesday afternoon to the couple’s Stoneybrook Road home after receiving a report of an unresponsive child. Police officials said the little girl was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Her 9-year-old brother was also hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. He has since been handed over to the Department of Children and Families.
The boy was found with serious injuries and bruising to his face, according to court documents.
The little girl had “extensive bruising of various ages over her entire body,” according to the police report.
The little boy allegedly told police that he sustained the injuries to his face when he was “attacked by bullies” and that his mother had recently glued a wound on his neck closed with super glue. His sister, he said, wouldn’t drink earlier in the day and his mother was mad about it, according to court documents.
During the booking process, police said they found handwritten notes on Pedroso that included an entry dated April 9 that indicated the children were “bad and beaten.”
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner is working to determine the cause of the little girl’s death.
An investigation is ongoing.
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