Cops: Pregnant Roosevelt mom charged in daughter's death

A Roosevelt woman, seven months pregnant, has been charged with manslaughter after she beat her 2-year-old daughter to death for misbehaving while brushing her teeth, police said.

Shawnta Montgomery, 20, who lives on Hudson Avenue in Roosevelt, pleaded not guilty to two counts of manslaughter at her arraignment Monday in First District Court in Hempstead, court officials said.

Prosecutors said Montgomery admitted to "punching her own baby," Dizhawna Montgomery, after she acted up while brushing her teeth Friday. Dizhawna, who was nicknamed "Da Da," turned 2 on Christmas Day.

After the toddler's death later that morning, the county medical examiner's office conducted an autopsy and on Saturday found that the girl had been killed by a blow to her liver, Nassau police said. The autopsy uncovered prior abuse as well.

Then on Sunday, detectives arrested Montgomery after she "made admissions to us of striking that child multiple times," said Det. Lt. John Azzata, commanding officer of the Nassau police homicide squad.

Azzata, speaking at a news conference Monday at police headquarters in Mineola, refused to comment on whether he believed Montgomery struck the child with an object.

Also, investigators on Friday arrested Montgomery's boyfriend, Benjamin Smith, when they discovered he was wanted by Virginia authorities for attempted murder, Azzata said. Smith, 25, was accused of firing a 9-mm handgun into the Norfolk, Va., home where Montgomery was staying last November.

During a search of the Roosevelt house, Azzata said, police recovered a 9-mm handgun from a bedroom. They are investigating who owns the weapon, he said.

Montgomery and Smith moved from Virginia to Roosevelt last month to stay with Smith's mother, Beverly German. The house on Hudson Avenue is rented to Cindy Maxwell, 36, who said she knows German from church. Maxwell said German, Smith, Montgomery and the little girl were staying there temporarily.

Maxwell and her daughter, Cindy Collier, 17, said they met Montgomery for the first time on New Year's Day and during the month-and-a-half long stay, they never saw Montgomery lay a hand on the little girl.

"I've never seen her strike that baby," said Maxwell.

Three days after they moved into German's Hudson Avenue home, on Jan. 4, Nassau police were called to the house. Shawnta Montgomery had suffered what police described as "an accidental fall down the stairs."

The second call to the house came Friday around 9:10 a.m., when Nassau police responded to a 911 call about an injured baby. The toddler was rushed to Nassau University Medical Center in East Meadow and a doctor pronounced her dead at 10:50 a.m., officials said.

Virginia authorities had received reports of child abuse concerning Dizhawna last year, Nassau police said. "There is some indication to us, which we are investigating, that there had been notifications to authorities in the Virginia area," Azzata said.

Montgomery has no criminal record, authorities said. Montgomery was ordered back to Nassau County criminal court on Feb. 18, officials said.