A 4-year-old girl died Thursday afternoon after her mother stole a car, parked it near a bridge in Tampa, waded into the Hillsborough River and threw her daughter in the water, according to Tampa police.
The incident happened about 4 p.m. Thursday just north of the Columbus Drive bridge.
According to Tampa police, Shakayla Denson, 26, had just stolen a Nissan Altima from an auto repair shop when she parked it near the bridge and went into the water carrying her daughter, Je’Hyrah Daniels.
“Witnesses say she waded into the Hillsborough River with her child. Roughly halfway across the river, she tossed the child and began wading out,” police said in a news release.
From her third-floor condominium unit near the river, Vicki Walker took cellphone images of the curious site of a woman in the water and shared the pictures with Tampa Bay television station WFTS.
“I saw a woman in the river which is very odd. I’ve lived here for years – I’ve never seen anybody in the river. It’s gut-wrenching for me,” Walker told the station.
Divers were called to the scene and found Je’Hyrah under the water about 75 feet off shore. She was pronounced dead at hospital shortly before 5 p.m., police said.
She was booked into the Hillsborough County Jail shortly before midnight on charges of murder, aggravated child abuse and grand theft auto, records show.
She was taken into custody and charged with murder.
It was not known if Je’Hyrah was dead before she was thrown into the water.
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