Kansas City woman is charged with murder in death of 2-year-old daughter

A Jackson County grand jury has indicted a Kansas City woman on second-degree murder charges in the March death of her 2-year-old daughter.

The indictment, which upgrades charges previously filed by prosecutors, comes after the Jackson County medical examiner’s office ruled the girl’s death a homicide.

Marie Chishahayo, 36, also faces four counts of child abuse or neglect in the case, which includes allegations she also abused and neglected a 3-year-old girl.

On March 5, police officers investigated a call about a child with burn injuries at an apartment in the 1300 block of Vine Street. They found a 2-year-old dead with burns on her body and a severely injured 3-year-old girl. A 9-year-old boy and a 6-month old child also were in the home.

According to court records, Chishahayo first told investigators that her 9-year-old son had injured the two girls and that he had heated a knife on the kitchen stove and burned the 2-year-old repeatedly because “God told him to punish the girl.”

She also said she saw the 9-year-old pick up the 2-year-old and throw her against the wall several times.

But she later told investigators that she had struck the 2-year-old using a long plastic rod and had hit the 3-year-old because she would not get out of bed.

Prosecutors initially charged Chishahayo in March with four counts of abuse, saying she had struck the younger children, causing serious injuries, and allowed the children to suffer by failing to get them medical treatment.

A pretrial conference has been scheduled for May 28.

This story was originally published May 20, 2015 at 2:06 PM with the headline "Kansas City woman is charged with murder in death of 2-year-old daughter."