A somber beginning to the New Year in Columbus ensued as police reported the arrest of a woman in connection with the death of her 3-year-old daughter on New Year's Eve. According to 10TV, officers responded to a call at approximately 5:35 p.m. and found the child, Cassidy Sakoulos, not breathing.
The young girl was swiftly taken to Nationwide Children's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 6:06 p.m. A subsequent police investigation established the death was a homicide "motivated by domestic violence," as reported by 10TV. Sharon Sakoulos, 41, Cassidy's mother, was the one to have been charged with the murder following her confession to placing a plastic bag over her daughter's head with the intent to kill her, as documents from the Franklin County Municipal Court detailed.
Reports from The Dispatch indicate that Sakoulos is currently being held without bond in the Franklin County Jail and is scheduled to make her initial court appearance at 9 a.m., Jan. 2. The cause of death was not explicitly mentioned in initial statements.
After responding to the Orson Drive address, first-responding officers attempted to resuscitate the child before Columbus Fire paramedics arrived to quickly take over, yet they were unable to save Cassidy's life. Furthermore, according to ABC 6 On Your Side, the preliminary report suggests that the mode of Cassidy's death was suffocation.
The Columbus Division of Police encourages anyone with additional information to reach out to Detective Brandt at 614-645-4077, the homicide unit at 614-645-4730, or Central Ohio Crime Stoppers at 614-461-TIPS (8477), reinforcing the community's integral role in aiding to unravel such tragic events.
