Police are saying a 4-year-old Maryland girl died after her mother kicked her in the stomach for not brushing her teeth.

Iris Hernandez-Rivas, 20, had called police Wednesday to report finding her daughter Nohely Alexandra Martinez Hernandez unresponsive in their home in Gaithersburg near Washington, FOX 5 DC reported.

Hernandez-Rivas told police that her daughter had gone to the bathroom around 11 a.m. to take a shower. She said that about 15 minutes later she found the girl lying face down in the bathtub, but waited an hour to call 911.

The little girl was transported to the hospital in serious condition. Once there doctors discovered Nohely had multiple bruises on her body and was suffering from head trauma.

She was then taken to the Children’s National Medical Center in D.C. in critical condition. Cops told Fox 5 Friday she had died.

Police said that in an interview Thursday Hernandez-Rivas admitted kicking her daughter in the abdomen after becoming angry because Nohely had not brushed her teeth, the station reported.

The woman told cops that Nohely hit her head when she fell backwards into a wall after being kicked.

Hernandez-Rivas told police the girl suffered the bruises when she hit her with a belt several days earlier.

FOX 5 DC reported that Hernandez-Rivas is currently charged with first-degree child abuse and first-degree assault. Police are waiting on a ruling by the medical examiner on the child’s official cause of death before determining if she will also face more serious charges.

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It is not hard to find news daily that fills the mind with outrage, sadness, or whatever emotion it is a reader is looking to find. Today this headline could and does produce many feelings.

What I first noticed about this article is the picture of the mother looks like a child. While it is true she actually is 20 her picture reminds me of a girl aged 12, or something similar. And when doing the math, her 4 year old was born when the mother was still a child, at 16.

In nature and the ‘good ol days’ back when people lived to the ripe old age of 30 something, females bore children almost as soon as their bodies were able. Today the age is much farther along. Still, in many countries, America included, teens are still having children.

It was sad to see the young mother abuse her now dead child. Sad but not unexpected as humanity is an angry species. All are filled with moments of anger that range in vocal outrage to extreme physical expression. In this case, the mothers anger was strong enough to overcome the 4 year old.

It is good to learn from mistakes and experience. Will any reader learn something from this article above? Probably not. Most that read such news articles usually quickly forget them or feel some kind of temporary emotion.

Just another horrible life experience, a news story of daily occurrence. If I were asked what I learned from this story? The answer would be: Evolution continues but still has a long way to go.