"Kansas City police are trying to determine whether to charge a 5-year-old girl with murder after she admitted that she dragged a crying toddler into a bathtub and held him under water until he stopped crying.
"I've been in law enforcement for 20 years and it's the youngest suspect I can remember," police spokesman Darin Snapp said. "It's extremely rare."
The girl, who is not being identified because of her age, was left with 18-month-old Jermane Johnson Jr. on June 3 along with two other children and a 16-year-old girl who was supposed to be looking after them. The teenager had fallen asleep, police said.
Police originally ruled the death an accident, but it turned into a potential homicide investigation after the 5-year-old told social workers that she held 18-month-old Johnson under water to stop his crying.
"She said she got angry because he would not stop crying and she held him under the water until he stopped crying," Snapp said.
She told social workers that she dragged Johnson into the tub, still full of water from when the children took baths earlier that evening, police said.
Police were called to the drowning just before midnight Friday, when the adults returned home and found the boy dead.
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