A Long Island woman charged with manslaughter in the death of her 8-year-old disabled daughter fed the girl food she was allergic to and then tried to kill herself after leaving a note that said her daughter "should die," authorities said.
The little girl, who suffered from cerebral palsy, was found only hours before she was to have participated in a cousin's wedding as a flower girl.
Veronica Cirella, of Plainview, was still in the Nassau University Medical Center on Monday, a police spokeswoman said, although she declined to describe her condition. Cirella, who was found with a cord around her neck on Saturday afternoon, was arraigned the following day and held without bail in the death of her daughter Julie.
Prosecutors said the young girl appeared to have a reaction to something she was fed. Autopsy results remained inconclusive; further tests were pending, police said.
"There was a certain protocol that should have been followed as far as giving care for the allergy that she did not take," prosecutor Zeena Abdi said of the mother.
Cirella's Legal Aid attorney Yolanda Guerra denied the accusations.
No one at the house wanted to speak with reporters on Monday, and several neighbors also declined comment.
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Cirella is charged with manslaughter for failing to take steps to save her child, authorities said. She is due back in court Wednesday.
The girl was to have participated in a family wedding later Saturday; the wedding reportedly went on as scheduled. Julie's flower-decorated wheelchair was found in the home.
