Mom and grandma charged with voodoo burning of child

BY NOAH ROSENBERG

Friday, June 19, 2009 12:37 PM EDT

A Queens Village mother and grandmother have been charged with conducting a voodoo ritual in which they used accelerant to set their six-year-old daughter and granddaughter on fire, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced Thursday, June 18.

The child, Frantzcia Saintil, was admitted to New York Presbyterian Hospital’s burn center on February 6, two days after she suffered from second- and third-degree burns on 25 percent of her body, including her face, torso and legs. She was placed in a medically-induced coma and hooked up to a respirator.

According to Brown, Marie Lauradin, 29, told police that on February 4 her daughter approached her from behind and hit her hand as she transferred a pot of rice from a front burner to one in the rear of the stove. Lauradin allegedly told police that the boiling water spilled onto Saintil, causing the girl’s injuries.

The child’s grandmother, 79-year-old Sylvenie Thessier, is alleged to have been in the bathroom at the time of the incident and afterward bathed Saintil and put her to bed despite her knowledge of her granddaughter’s burns.

The child purportedly remained in bed until her aunt arrived the following evening and insisted she be taken to the hospital, where she remained until May.

Saintil was subsequently placed with a foster family, to whom she recounted a sequence of events much different from that of her mom and grandma.

According to the charges, Saintil told her foster family that, in a Haitian voodoo practice known as “Loa,” Lauradin poured an accelerant on her daughter’s head and in a circle on the floor, set the ring on fire and placed Saintil, naked, in the middle of the inferno.

Lauradin and a family friend named “Sketch,” who was also present for the ritual, allegedly failed to intervene despite Saintil’s cries for help.

In a statement, Brown said, “The child has suffered permanent scarring – both physically and emotionally.”

Lauradin and Thessier are awaiting arraignment in Queens Criminal Court. Both have been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and Lauradin, who received an additional charge of first-degree assault, faces up to 25 years in prison. Thessier faces up to seven years behind bars with a second charge of first-degree reckless endangerment.