The mother of the three-year-old Bronx girl that was found dead this week has been charged with assault and reckless endangerment, along with her live-in boyfriend, authorities said.
Police sources said Sherika Stewart, 22, and boyfriend Leon Walters, 25, made statements on video to the Bronx District Attorney that they hit the girl and caused some of her injuries before she died in their Riverdale apartment.
Walters had told cops initially that he had been watching Ahnya Louis-Hardy, 3, when the girl tumbled down the stairs and passed out in their apartment on Manhattan College Parkway, police sources said.
Her body had bruises on it, and she died shortly after at Montefiore Hospital, sources added.
An initial autopsy by the city’s medical examiner was inconclusive. The cause of death is pending further study, a spokeswoman said.
The Administration for Children’s Services is also investigating the tragedy, authorities said.
Walters has prior arrests for assault and marijuana possession, a law-enforcement source said.