A 4-year-old girl has died after her mother told police she kicked the child because she refused to brush her teeth, police say.
Nohely Alexandra Martinez Hernandez died Wednesday, Montgomery County police said Friday evening.
Police were called to the Adventist Healthcare Shady Grove Medical Center in Rockville, Maryland, on Thursday after Martinez Hernandez was taken to a hospital with head trauma and multiple bruises on her body.
Doctors believed the injuries were the result of physical abuse.
The child's mother, Iris Hernandez Rivas, 20, of Gaithersburg, Maryland, was charged with first-degree child abuse and first-degree assault.
When detectives spoke with Rivas, she told them she kicked the girl after becoming angry that the girl did not brush her teeth. Rivas said the child fell backward, hit her head on the living room wall and fell to the ground.
Rivas told police Martinez Hernandez went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. She said she found her daughter face down in the bathtub and waited about an hour before calling 911.
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Rivas also told detectives the bruises on the victim’s body were from her striking her daughter with a belt several days prior. Rivas is being held without bond.
Final results of an autopsy are pending.
