young mother wanted by police in connection to a child abuse case that reportedly left a 3-year-old girl injured was arrested Wednesday morning, authorities announced.
According to a Friday news release by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office, a warrant was issued for the arrest of 21-year-old Shaqwana Baker after her young daughter was “gravely injured.”
It stated that Baker’s last known address was in the Bronx, in New York City, but that she had recently been staying in the New Jersey cities of North Bergen and Secaucus.
The suspect and her boyfriend — 29-year-old Far Rockaway, N.Y., resident Edward Smith — are both facing charges of second-degree aggravated assault and two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, the prosecutor’s office added.
On Jan. 23, New York University Langone Hospital notified the New York Police Department that Baker brought the child to the medical facility with “life-threatening injuries,” said the prosecutor’s office.
“The child was later transported to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Bellevue Hospital, where she continues to receive medical treatment. An investigation by the NYPD and HCPO Special Victims Unit determined the 3-year-old girl was the victim of child abuse and was injured while staying at a North Bergen motel with Baker and Smith,” according to the prosecutor’s office. “Her injuries are expected to be permanent and life altering.”
On Feb. 24 Smith was arrested at the Hudson County Correctional Facility. New Jersey filed a detention motion against Smith that was scheduled for Monday.
More details on Baker’s arrest are expected to be released soon. Police did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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