Second person arrested in death of 3-year-old

A second person has been arrested in the Tuesday death of 3-year-old Serenity Richardson, Summerville police said Friday.

Shanita Latrice Cunningham, 23, of Congaree River Drive is charged with homicide by child abuse, police Capt. Jon Rogers said in a news release.

She was being held in Charleston County jail pending a bond hearing.

Cunningham lived in the house along with Serenity's caretaker, Erica Mae Butts, also 23.

Butts was charged with homicide by child abuse this week and remains in jail.

The child's mother, Ieshia Richardson, had left Serenity in Butts' care for several weeks while she was moving in Detroit.

Serenity's body was found at the Congaree Drive residence about 7 p.m. Tuesday after Butts' mother dialed 911 and said the child was not breathing, according to court records.

Summerville firefighters found the child in full cardiac arrest.

An unidentified woman inside the house told a paramedic that the girl was sitting in a chair, fell backward and struck her head, according to the police report.

Charleston County EMS took the girl to Summerville Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at 8:05 p.m.

Doctors and nurses at the hospital saw cuts and bruises on Serenity's chest, abdomen, legs, arms, feet and back.

The police report states there was a golf-ball-size bruise on her head and a large burn mark on her right leg.

An autopsy by a Medical University of South Carolina forensic pathologist determined that the cause of death was "full body blunt force trauma," the warrant states.

Butts had told police she had whipped the girl and that Serenity had hit her head several times, court records said.

It was unclear Friday why the second arrest was made. Rogers would say only that the person was a second resident of the house.

The news release said Cunningham was arrested based on information developed during the investigation.

Rogers said the investigation is still open and ongoing.