Read more: State, Crime, Beating, Death, Belt, Butts
(AP) -- SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (AP) -- Authorities say a baby sitter in South Carolina watching a 3-year-old girl who died in her care beat the girl with a belt after she used the bathroom on the floor.
Investigators told The Post and Courier of Charleston that 23-year-old Erica Butts is charged by homicide by child abuse in Serenity Richardson's death. Doctors say she had bruises over most her body and a large burn on her right leg.
Authorities say Butts was watching the child for Ieshia Richardson, a friend who was trying to move to South Carolina from Detroit.
Richardson was at a hearing Thursday where Butts was denied bond. Butts apologized to her over a monitor from the Charleston County jail.
Butts' lawyer called the incident a tragic event and said she has a clean criminal record.
(Copyright ©2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
