9-Year-Old Girl Begged for Mom’s Help Before She Died

On Sunday, May 15, 9-year-old Shalom Guifarro of Brooklyn, New York, was reportedly brutally beaten and killed by her own mother. Shemene Cato, 48, allegedly attacked her two daughters for more than two hours before her youngest succumbed to her injuries.

The incident occurred when the mother reportedly became infuriated because her two daughters had lost a tablet computer.

According to the New York Post, Shalom was hiding from her mother under her bed, when the woman intentionally dropped the bed on the child’s head, and left her there while she died of internal bleeding.

During Cato’s arraignment on Tuesday, prosecutors said Shalom begged her mother for help, saying, “Mommy, help me.” Cato has been charged with murder, manslaughter, and assault, among other crimes.

Mother charged in death of 9-year-old NYC girl https://t.co/h3UlXpCvQG pic.twitter.com/gvM1GZMyS0

— New York Post Metro (@nypmetro) May 16, 2022

Cato allegedly attacked both of her daughters.

Police say Cato beat Shalom and her 13-year-old sister with an extension cord and broom for hours before ultimately killing her own daughter. The incident occurred at their apartment in Lincoln Place in Brooklyn.

“The defendant lifted up the bed, attempting to pull the child out from underneath,” said Assistant District Attorney David Ingle during the arraignment. “The bed dropped on Shalom … The bed fell onto her head.”

Shalom’s sister called the police.

According to prosecutors, Shalom was immobilized by the blow and could not get up. According to autopsy results, she had multiple blunt force injuries and internal bleeding, which is what ultimately caused her death.

Eventually, her older sister called police, but employees at the restaurant below the family’s apartment had also grown suspicious at that point.

Bart Hubbuch, who owns the Memphis Seoul restaurant in the same building, said employees called him complaining about a foul odor, and a substance that was “almost like sewage dripping into the restaurant from the apartment.”

He called Cato a “nightmare.”

Hubbuch said both girls were “very well mannered,” but he said he knew something was up with Cato. “The mom was a nightmare though,” said Hubbuch.

“She was always screaming at them. She had this little dog and was really skinny. Their mother frequently cussed them out and wouldn’t let them play with the other kids on the block.” 

Reports also indicate the family had many interactions with law enforcement in the past. Police have reportedly responded to 14 domestic violence calls to Cato’s apartment.

But child services was never involved.

Even with all of the domestic violence issues, city officials say, child services had never been involved with Cato and her children.

But neighbors report hearing frequent fights. “I heard a lot of screaming and fighting from the apartment,” neighbor Jason Rahimzadeh told the New York Post. “I heard loud arguments at least 10 times, where they were screaming at the top of their lungs,” he said. “The family kept to themselves. Everyone in the building is so nice and calm, but we all knew that apartment was trouble.”

Cato works for the city.

Cato is an employee of the city’s Human Resources Administration, and as such, her union is reportedly paying for her legal services. She has been charged with second degree murder, and during her arraignment she was seen holding her head down almost the entire time.

“Miss Cato, I noticed your head has been down but I want you to make sure you heard and understand,” Judge Simiyon Haniff, who ordered Cato be held without bail, said to her, reported the New York Post.

She won’t be seeing her older daughter.

A protective order against Cato has been issued for the safety of her older daughter, whom prosecutors say, explained that Shalom had been “spanked” and put in a time-out by their mom before she died.

Still, many did not think Cato was capable of such violence.

“She was regular,” said The Rev. Pedro Torres, of the No Longer Bound Ministries, which is around the corner from Cato’s apartment. “She would have a conversation, we would talk. Everybody says she was always verbally abusive with the child. I never saw that. I always saw her with the child like a mom, taking care of her kids.” 

He said of Shalom: “She really had no worries in the world. Always smiling and funny. I remember the time when I gave her the doll. The next day she saw me and she gave me a hug. She was very appreciative.”