The child, identified by her father as Raelynn Rose, died Saturday after nearly two weeks in the hospital.
A New York-based mommy blogger has been accused shaking her boyfriend's 2-year-old daughter so severely, she later died.
Brianna Valenti, 26, was arrested and charged with two felonies and a misdemeanor earlier in September. The child, identified by her father as Raelynn Rose, died on Saturday after nearly two weeks in the hospital.
On Sept. 10, deputies were called to the intensive care unit at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital by Child Protective Services, who suspected a child being treated there was the victim of abuse, according to the Erie County Sheriff's Office.
The victim was taken to the hospital earlier that afternoon. At the time of her arrival, she was unresponsive.
Valenti told investigators Raelynn had passed out after hitting her head and was having trouble breathing, the sheriff's office said.
But her injuries reportedly told a different story.
The 2-year-old's father, Cody Fuller, told WKBW Monday that doctors told him his daughter had been shaken "almost to death" before she was taken to the hospital.
Valenti was taken into custody a day after Raelynn was first admitted, charged with reckless assault of a child, assault and endangering the welfare of a child, according to the sheriff's office.
It's not clear whether Valenti, who is being held on $150,000 bail, will face more charges in the wake of the 2-year-old's death over the weekend. Calls to the Erie County Sheriff's Office were not immediately returned.
Online, Valenti wrote glowingly of her relationship with Fuller's daughter and her own 5-year-old girl, according to the New York Post.
“It’s a blessing to wake up every day to little feet running down the hallway, yelling ‘good morning!’ Valenti said. “And even if the day does start as you waking up to her, messing with her little sister in her crib, patience is a virtue parents — life doesn’t get easier. We just get better at handling it.”
The blog she wrote for has since been taken down and in its place is a statement from the blog's creator.
"I haven't spoken to Brianna in a very long time, the last time we spoke was probably when I let her know I would no longer be doing the blog and I just really wish I would have maybe reached out and seen if she was doing [OK]," the statement reads.
"My heart is in pieces thinking of her own daughter, for Raelynn and her entire family, for everyone affected by this."
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