NJ man and girlfriend charged in murder of 4-year-old girl, officials say

🔴 Young girl dies after being found unresponsive in Paterson

🔴 Investigation finds her cause of death was blunt force trauma

🔴 The girl's father and his girlfriend have been indicted

PATERSON — A man and his girlfriend have been charged in connection with the homicide of a 4-year-old girl, according to authorities.

The announcement of the indictment on Tuesday by the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office comes 16 weeks after the Paterson man's daughter was found unresponsive in a home on Pearl Street.

Givenchy Stewart, 21, was charged with second-degree child endangerment and third-degree hindering. He is the victim's biological father, according to prosecutors.

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Ashanti Givens, 21, of Paterson, is Stewart's girlfriend, prosecutors said.

She is charged with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree child endangerment, and third-degree hindering.

Girl found unresponsive in Paterson home

According to authorities, Stewart's 4-year-old daughter was found unresponsive in Paterson around 8:45 p.m. on May 6.

The young girl was taken to the hospital from an apartment near the corner of Pearl Street and Carroll Street. She was pronounced dead within less than an hour.

Investigators found that Stewart's daughter had been left alone for long periods of time in the two days leading up to her death.

However, an autopsy found the girl didn't die of neglect; instead, she was killed by blunt force trauma, and her death has been ruled a homicide.

Prosecutors said Givens was responsible for the victim's death, but didn't provide more specific details.

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Stewart and Givens were arrested on May 12 and are being held in jail. They have a court appearance scheduled for Sept. 8.

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