HENRY COUNTY, Ga. — For the first time we're hearing the desperate 911 call made in the Laila Daniel murder case.
Police say the 2-year-old died while in the care of her foster parents.
Daniel’s family members told Channel 2’s Audrey Washington the 911 call is heartbreaking to listen to and that they want justice for Laila.
The foster parent, Jennifer Rosenbaum, a one-time Henry County commission candidate, is charged with murder. Her husband, Joseph, is charged with child cruelty.
“I have a daughter a foster child that I just got. She was choking. I tried to do the Heimlich maneuver on her. She's still breathing but it doesn't look good,” Rosenbaum says in the 911 call.
She then tells the operator that she is trying to do CPR, but doesn’t know how.
"I'm hoping I didn't break a rib, I've been pushing hard and I don't really know how to do this,” Rosenbaum says.
A criminal warrant for Rosenbaum claims she failed to feed the child and hit Laila in the abdomen so hard she bled. Authorities have not released an official cause of death.
“It's very emotional to hear what was going on. We were told she choked but from the 911 call it doesn't sound like she was choking on anything at the time. She was breathing. I don't understand what made her stop breathing,” said Kim Smith, the toddler’s great aunt.
The Rosenbaum's attorney said the police made a mistake and that her clients are innocent.
As for Smith, she told Washington she saw bruises on Laila.
Smith says the last time she saw Laila, the 2-year-old grabbed onto her shirt, not wanting to let go.
"When I had to give her back, tears were in her eyes and her lip was shivering. She was grasping onto my shirt and not wanting to let go when she was going back to Jennifer,” Smith said.
She says it was a red flag that she missed. Now, the devastated family just wants answers.
“We want to know what happened, what triggered it, why Laila? We don’t want Laila’s death to be in vain.”
WSBTV
