Witness saw child beaten, police say

A witness said the caregiver burned the child's right hand with a lighter.
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;By PEGGY SINKOVICH & lt;/a & gt;
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
CORTLAND -- The caregiver of a 3-year-old girl was seen by a witness beating the child six days before the toddler died, police say.
Detective Dave Morris said an affidavit for a search warrant states that a witness saw Ethel Wilbert-Bethea kicking and punching Auntavia Atkins and hitting the girl with a spoon.
The witness, who is not identified, told police the beating took place at Wilbert-Bethea's North Bank Street home Aug. 27. Auntavia, who died Sept. 2, lived with Wilbert-Bethea. The child's funeral was Monday.
"Citizen witness observed Auntavia's mouth and nose to be bleeding and Bethea told citizen witness to get a rag," the affidavit states.
The affidavit was filed Friday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court to get permission to search Wilbert-Bethea's home. Judge W. Wyatt McKay granted the search warrant.
The search warrant and affidavit remained under seal until Monday.
The search warrant shows a small bat, a wooden bat, a handle wrapped in black duct tape, several forks, a wooden-handled spoon, dish rags, three cigarette lighters and pieces of doors were taken from the home.
The affidavit further notes that around the second week of August, the citizen observed Wilbert-Bethea burn Auntavia's right hand by forcing the girl to hold her hand over a lighter.
Charged
Because of the burn on Auntavia's hand, Wilbert-Bethea was arrested on a charge of child endangering. She has pleaded innocent to one count of child endangering and is in the county jail in lieu of a $1 million bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for today in Central District Court.
Wilbert-Bethea has not been charged with Auntavia's death, but authorities say the investigation is continuing.
The witness also observed Wilbert-Bethea pick up and shake Auntavia as well as other children in the house, the affidavit states.
Auntavia and two of her siblings were staying at the North Bank home while their mother, Angel Diggs, worked on getting a full-time job and a place to live.
All the children at Wilbert-Bethea's home have since been removed, police said, and are now in the care of Trumbull County Children Services.
Diggs has said that she thought it was in her children's best interest to place them in Wilbert-Bethea's home. Diggs said her family knew Wilbert-Bethea for more than seven years.
Police were called to Wilbert-Bethea's home about 10:30 a.m. Aug. 29. Officials found Auntavia in serious condition and took her to a local hospital. From there she was taken to Cleveland Metro Health Center.
Morris states in the affidavit that while he was in the ambulance with the child, rescue personnel noted that Auntavia's upper lip was cut and swollen. There also was a "hot fork mark" on the girl's arm.
Wilbert-Bethea told police that Auntavia was running and "hit a grill." She also told police that she uses only plastic forks in her home.
& lt;a href=mailto:sinkovich@vindy.com & gt;sinkovich@vindy.com & lt;/a & gt;