THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, September 9, 1995 TAG: 9509090492
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B5 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Short : 32 lines
A woman was charged Friday with murder in the death of a 2-year-old girl whom she was baby-sitting.
Police said Chenelle D. Foreman died Thursday of internal injuries caused by blows.
Tomika Weaver, 19, of the 400 block of Webb St., was arrested Friday afternoon at police headquarters. She was held without bail in Western Tidewater Regional Jail in Suffolk.
Police said they received a call about 1:30 p.m. Thursday from Weaver, who said the child was not breathing. Emergency personnel went to Weaver's house, in the Pleasant Hill section, where they found the child on her back on the living room sofa. After trying to resuscitate her, they transported her to Louise Obici Memorial Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Chenelle lived with her grandparents in the 100 block of Mahan St.
Police said Weaver became angry after the child apparently soiled her diaper and would not stop crying. Police said Weaver told investigators that she struck the child several times and the crying stopped.
An examination by the state medical examiner in Norfolk revealed that the child died from internal injuries.
KEYWORDS: MURDER CHILD ABUSE BABYSITTER by CNB