A trial opened in Philadelphia Tuesday for a woman accused of beating to death her 10-year-old special-needs stepdaughter, whom the prosecution say the stepmother hated and wanted dead. Charlenni Ferreira was rushed to the hospital in October 2009, just days before her 11th birthday, after she was found unresponsive in her parents' home on C Street. She died a short time later. Doctors uncovered that the girl's lungs had collapsed due to an untreated infection caused by multiple broken ribs. Shocking abuse: Margaret Garabito (left), 48, is facing murder and child abuse charges in the 2009 death of her stepdaughter, Charlenni Ferreira (right), who succumbed to an infection caused by broken ribs . Charlenni's other injuries suggesting long-term physical and sexual abuse included a seven-inch head wound hidden from view by a weave, a broken hipbone, marks and bruises all over her body, and vaginal and anal scaring. The child's father, Domingo Ferreira, and her stepmother, Margaret Garabito, were charged with murder, endangering the welfare of a child and additional counts. In his opening statement, prosecutor Andrew Notaristefano told the jury at Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Tuesday that Garabito, 48, has admitted to hitting her stepdaughter on the head with a broom, which resulted in a skull fracture and brain damage, reported Philly.com. Too late: The child's father, Domingo Ferreira, 53, was also charged but he committed suicide in jail . 'She hated this child and she wanted this child dead and out of her life,' said Notaristefano. Garabito's defense attorney, J. Michael Farrell, argued that his client was only guilty of manslaughter for failing to stop her husband from beating and molesting his daughter. Ferreira is expected to testify that her spouse told her he would kill her and her three teenage children if she went to the police. 'My client was a victim too,' the attorney told the jury panel Tuesday. Domingo Ferreira, 53, committed suicide in jail three days after his arrest. Also on Tuesday, the jurors were shown graphic photographs of Charlenni’s gaping 7-by-4-inch head wound, which the prosecution said her stepmother concealed for a year by stuffing it with cotton and pinning a hairpiece over it. Assistant Medical Examiner Marlon Osborne testified in court that countless bobby pins and clips holding the weave in place were embedded in the child's badly scarred, almost entirely bald scalp. Sitting next to her attorney, Garabito appeared shaken to see the graphic autopsy images and was seen wiping away tears. The prosecutor said Charlenni, a native of Puerto Rico who came to live with her father and his new family in Philadelphia in 2005, sustained about three years of continuous abuse, beginning in the fall of 2006 and ending the day she died October 21, 2009. When Domingo Ferreira went to Puerto Rico for a month in the fall of 2009, the prosecutor said his wife subjected her stepdaughter to repeated beatings, striking her with a metal broom handle and sticks. Charlenni was found unresponsive in her parents' home on C Street in Philadelphia in October 2009 . Describing the 10-year-old child as 'broken from head to toe,' Notaristefano told the jury that every time her stepmother broke another one of her ribs, Charlenni suffered from internal bleeding, which eventually resulted in fluid buildup that sparked an infection. During a preliminary hearing in January 2010, it was revealed that Garabito admitted to police that that last time she struck the 10-year-old was six days before her death because the little girl wanted to use a calculator to do her homework.
Charlenni Ferreira died from untreated infection caused by five broken ribs in October 2009 .
Margaret Garabito, 48, is facing murder and child abuse charges .
The girl's father was also charged in her death but killed himself in jail days after his arrest .
Charlenni's injuries suggesting physical and sexual abuse included a seven-inch head wound, a broken hipbone, bruises and vaginal and anal scaring .
Autopsy showed the stepmother concealed Charlenni's head wound for a year by stuffing it with cotton and covering it with a hairpiece .
A trial opened in Philadelphia Tuesday for a woman accused of beating to death her 10-year-old special-needs stepdaughter, whom the prosecution say the stepmother hated and wanted dead. Charlenni Ferreira was rushed to the hospital in October 2009, just days before her 11th birthday, after she was found unresponsive in her parents' home on C Street. She died a short time later. Doctors uncovered that the girl's lungs had collapsed due to an untreated infection caused by multiple broken ribs. Shocking abuse: Margaret Garabito (left), 48, is facing murder and child abuse charges in the 2009 death of her stepdaughter, Charlenni Ferreira (right), who succumbed to an infection caused by broken ribs . Charlenni's other injuries suggesting long-term physical and sexual abuse included a seven-inch head wound hidden from view by a weave, a broken hipbone, marks and bruises all over her body, and vaginal and anal scaring. The child's father, Domingo Ferreira, and her stepmother, Margaret Garabito, were charged with murder, endangering the welfare of a child and additional counts. In his opening statement, prosecutor Andrew Notaristefano told the jury at Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Tuesday that Garabito, 48, has admitted to hitting her stepdaughter on the head with a broom, which resulted in a skull fracture and brain damage, reported Philly.com. Too late: The child's father, Domingo Ferreira, 53, was also charged but he committed suicide in jail . 'She hated this child and she wanted this child dead and out of her life,' said Notaristefano. Garabito's defense attorney, J. Michael Farrell, argued that his client was only guilty of manslaughter for failing to stop her husband from beating and molesting his daughter. Ferreira is expected to testify that her spouse told her he would kill her and her three teenage children if she went to the police. 'My client was a victim too,' the attorney told the jury panel Tuesday. Domingo Ferreira, 53, committed suicide in jail three days after his arrest. Also on Tuesday, the jurors were shown graphic photographs of Charlenni’s gaping 7-by-4-inch head wound, which the prosecution said her stepmother concealed for a year by stuffing it with cotton and pinning a hairpiece over it. Assistant Medical Examiner Marlon Osborne testified in court that countless bobby pins and clips holding the weave in place were embedded in the child's badly scarred, almost entirely bald scalp. Sitting next to her attorney, Garabito appeared shaken to see the graphic autopsy images and was seen wiping away tears. The prosecutor said Charlenni, a native of Puerto Rico who came to live with her father and his new family in Philadelphia in 2005, sustained about three years of continuous abuse, beginning in the fall of 2006 and ending the day she died October 21, 2009. When Domingo Ferreira went to Puerto Rico for a month in the fall of 2009, the prosecutor said his wife subjected her stepdaughter to repeated beatings, striking her with a metal broom handle and sticks. Charlenni was found unresponsive in her parents' home on C Street in Philadelphia in October 2009 . Describing the 10-year-old child as 'broken from head to toe,' Notaristefano told the jury that every time her stepmother broke another one of her ribs, Charlenni suffered from internal bleeding, which eventually resulted in fluid buildup that sparked an infection. During a preliminary hearing in January 2010, it was revealed that Garabito admitted to police that that last time she struck the 10-year-old was six days before her death because the little girl wanted to use a calculator to do her homework.
Charlenni Ferreira was rushed to the hospital in Garabito (left), 48, is facing murder and child abuse charges in the 2009 death of her succumbed to an infection caused by broken ribs . Charlenni's other injuries suggesting long-term physical and sexual abuse included a seven-inch head wound hidden from view by a weave, a broken vaginal and anal scaring. The child's father, also charged but he committed suicide in jail . three days after his arrest. Also on Tuesday, the the prosecution said her stepmother concealed for a year by stuffing it with cotton and pinning a Street in Philadelphia in October 2009 .