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NYC mom accused of burning girl, 6, in voodoo act

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-06-19 13:15

NEW YORK -- A New York City woman has been accused of burning her 6-year-old daughter during a voodoo ritual and then ignoring her cries for help and sending her to bed.

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Prosecutors say Marie Lauradin poured a flammable liquid over her daughter during a Haitian practice known as Loa and made her stand naked in a ring of fire, engulfing her in flames.

Queens District Attorney Richard Brown says Lauradin and the girl's grandmother washed her and put her to bed despite life-threatening burns over 25 percent of her body. He says 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 February 4 incident. Defense attorney Jeff Cohen says she denies the allegations.

The grandmother faces a later arraignment.

The girl went into foster care.