Centennial – An Aurora woman suspected by police in the death of her 3-year-old daughter was charged Thursday with assault with a deadly weapon and sex assault.
Susie Ida Quartey, 34, who is being held on $500,000 bail, appeared in Arapahoe County District Court for the formal filing of charges against her.
Quartey faces two felony charges, assault with a deadly weapon causing injury and sex assault on a child by a person in a position of trust; and a misdemeanor charge of knowing and reckless child abuse causing bodily injury.
Defense attorney Thomas Miller said Quartey is innocent of all charges against her, and he labeled the sex-assault charge “ridiculous.”
After the hearing, Miller said Quartey had stripped her child, Jolyn Torpoh, of her clothing at the time of her death so she could perform CPR. “They have turned a nude body into a sexual assault,” Miller said.
Prosecutors would not elaborate on the sex-assault charge, but according to the arrest affidavit, Quartey told investigators both her children were left with a cousin in Ghana for two years, she learned they were being molested there and “she went and got her kids back.”
Quartey was arrested Saturday after calling 911 from her home to report that Jolyn had stopped breathing. Police said the girl was battered repeatedly with pieces of a metal towel rack and a coat hanger before she died.
Quartey told police she was carrying Jolyn on her back, wrapped in traditional African cloths, when she and her daughter fell together onto rocks in the family’s backyard.
On Wednesday custody of Quartey’s 5-year-old son was given to Quartey’s sister, who lives in the Denver area, Miller said.
The boy has been interviewed and examined for injuries, and none were found, according to the arrest affidavit.
Staff writer Kieran Nicholson can be reached at 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
