St. Paul Mom Beat Her 2-Year-Old Daughter To Death: Police

ST. PAUL, MN — A 29-year-old St. Paul woman is accused of beating her 2-year-old daughter to death and has been charged with second-degree murder.

Early Sunday morning, police responded to a duplex in the 1000 block of East 3rd Street after a man called 911 to report an "incident." Police said officers arrived around 2:30 a.m. and spoke to the father, who made the call, and he said his 2-year-old daughter was dead on the back porch.

Paramedics responded and pronounced her dead at 2:40 a.m.

According to a criminal complaint, Ciashia Lee "lost her temper" and hit the girl Saturday because she woke up the baby.

Lee then put the child in a closet for a "time out," the complaint states. Lee's husband said he eventually found her there, unresponsive, and called the police, authorities said.

Five other children were in the home at the time, ranging in age from 8 months to 11 years, according to police. They were all placed into the custody of Ramsey County Child Protection, police said.

Lee routinely hit the girl, according to investigators. Police spoke to the landlord who had been at the duplex around 1 p.m. Saturday. The landlord had been disturbed by the bruising on the girl’s face and took photos of her that afternoon before she was beaten to death, police said.

In the photos, the girl’s right eye and left cheek have large, dark bruises, the complaint states. The landlord contacted child protection about the girl, according to police.

The Ramsey County Medical Examiner’s Office said the cause of the girl's death was closed head trauma due to assault, and the manner of her death was homicide.

Lee faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted.