Washington - An American woman was charged with murder after she allegedly threw her two-year-old granddaughter off a sixth-storey bridge at a suburban Washington shopping centre, police said on Wednesday.
The child, Angelyn Ogdoc, died hours after arriving at a nearby hospital in critical condition, Fairfax County police said in a statement.
Several members of the family were out shopping on Monday evening when the child's grandmother, Carmela Dela Rosa, allegedly threw the child off a pedestrian walkway onto pavement below.
Dela Rosa, 50, was initially charged with “aggravated malicious wounding”, but the charge was changed to murder after the child's death.
Neighbours interviewed by The Washington Post described Dela Rosa as a warm and loving grandmother and were at a loss to say what could have motivated the alleged killing.
However, one family friend told the Post Dela Rosa had battled depression in recent years, and investigators said they would examine whether mental illness was a factor. - Sapa-AFP