The mom who Nassau cops say killed her disabled daughter in a depraved murder-suicide bid just hours before the excited 8-year-old was going to be a flower girl in her cousin’s Long Island wedding on Saturday is now facing a second-degree manslaughter rap.
Veronica Cirella, 30, who remains hospitalized at Nassau County Medical Center, was found unconscious with an unknown item wrapped around her throat in the basement of the Plainview house she shared with her daughter Julie Cirella, cops said.
An 8-year-old disabled girl who was going to be the flower girl at her cousin's Long Island wedding yesterday was found dead just two hours before the ceremony, cops said.
The body of Julie Cirella, who has cerebral palsy, was found with no visible signs of trauma in the basement of the Plainview, L.I., home she shared with her mom, grandmother and five others, said Nassau County police Detective Lt. Kevin Smith.
"There's a wheelchair decorated with flowers in the home. Apparently this 8-year-old girl was supposed to go down the aisle in this fashion," Smith said
The wedding and reception went on, however, as stunned relatives learned of Julie's death.
The girl's grandmother, Dolores Cirella, who lives on the first floor of the home on Shelly Court, discovered the grisly scene when she came home at around noon.
Julie was on a mattress on the floor. Nearby, Dolores' daughter-in-law, Veronica, 30, was unconscious with an undisclosed item wrapped around her neck. "She might have tried to strangle herself," said Smith.
A male relative called 911 at 12:27 p.m.
Cops said Julie's dad, Joe Cirella, has been jailed since Thursday for violating an order of protection Veronica took out against him.
Click to read more on the flower girl's death from NYPost.com
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