The mother and grandmother of a 6-year-old New York City girl were charged with burning her during a Haitian voodoo ritual and then failing to get help for the crying child.
Prosecutors say Marie Lauradin poured an accelerant over her daughter Frantzcia Saintil on Feb. 4 during a Haitian practice known as Loa and made her stand naked in a ring of fire, engulfing her in flames.
Despite Frantzcia's cries for help, Lauradin, 29, and the girl's grandmother Sylvenie Thessier, 70, didn't seek medical treatment for her, according to Queens District Attorney Richard Brown.
Instead, said Brown, Lauradin and Thessier washed her with cold water and put her to bed despite life-threatening burns over 25 percent of her body. He said another relative found her the next day.
Lauradin was ordered held on $50,000 bail at Thursday's arraignment on assault and child endangerment charges related to the incident. She denies the allegations, according to defense attorney Jeff Cohen.
The grandmother faces a later arraignment.
The girl went into foster care and is said to be doing better.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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