A 26-year-old woman is facing murder charges almost a year after a 4-year-old girl who was allegedly left in her care died of injuries she sustained as a result of child abuse.
Asha Green was watching preschooler Cashawanna Love for the girl's mother on June 24, 2022 when paramedics were called to the girl's home on the 7900 block of South Lawrence Avenue, according to Cook County prosecutors.
Earlier that day, Green called the girl's mother and told her that her daughter had fallen, stopped moving and was having trouble breathing, prosecutors said.
The girl's mother, who was working at O'Hare Airport at the time, told Green not to call 911, but Green did, prosecutors said. When the girl's mother left work early and headed home, the paramedics were already there.
Paramedics observed bruises on the girl's face and body and she was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, where she later died.
A paramedic reported allegedly hearing Green's statement “he couldn't believe he was going to jail for this” while attempts were made to treat Cashawanna.
An autopsy performed by the medical examiner's office later determined the girl's cause of death to be multiple blunt force injuries resulting from child abuse and her death was ruled a homicide, prosecutors said.
A month before the girl's death, Cashawanna was taken to hospital with an infection from a burn on her leg that doctors found suspicious, prosecutors said. At the time, the girl's mother said her daughter had suffered burns in her care and the state's Department of Child and Family Services took over.
Child welfare officers placed Cashawanna temporarily with Green, who was romantically involved with the girl's mother, according to prosecutors. Cashawanna was returned to his mother's care a few weeks later.
Prosecutors said Green was actually watching Cashawanna at the time she suffered burns to her leg, which Green alleged told the girl's mother in a text message that occurred when the girl was alone in the bathtub.
Green was taken into custody Friday afternoon, Chicago police records show.
Judge Maryam Ahmad ordered him to be held without bail during Saturday's hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
Green is expected back in court Wednesday.