Grand Junction police arrested a 20-year-old foster mother on suspicion of child abuse resulting in death after she allegedly killed an 11-month-old girl she was hoping to adopt, according to court records.
Sydney Danielle White, of Grand Junction, is accused of shaking to death Angel Lance Place by her throat after White couldn’t get the baby to stop crying Sept. 15. She was arrested Friday.
“Sydney stated she was out of control, saying she didn’t know for how long she shook Angel or how many times she shook her,” the records say.
White also told police she dropped Angel on the floor the day of the shaking, causing a minor cut on the baby’s lip and a bloody nose.
“White said the baby initially became lethargic and wouldn’t wake up, but that later she appeared to be doing better,” police said in a news release Tuesday.
White that night took Angel to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction, where the baby became unresponsive after her right side went stiff. Angel was transferred to Children’s Hospital Colorado in Aurora and died two days later, police said.
Court records indicate Angel was taken away from her biological parents by Mesa County Child Protective Services this year and placed with White and her husband in July.
White and her husband have two children of their own, police said.
The Mesa County coroner found that Angel died as the result of blunt-force head injuries and ruled the death a homicide.
White is being held at the Mesa County jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.
Jesse Paul: 303-954-1733, jpaul@denverpost.com or
