Toddler dies from head injuries
Mother charged in daughter's death
21-month-old hurt Friday night

The Toronto Star, by HENRY STANCU, STAFF REPORTER, Oct. 12, 2004.

A Toronto woman has been charged after her 21-month-old daughter died from severe blunt trauma to the head, police say.

City police and ambulance were called Friday at 11 p.m. to an apartment on Pape Ave. at Queen St. E. Inside, they found Starlin Waide, who wasn't breathing. She was rushed to the Hospital for Sick Children but died Saturday at 5:30 p.m., police said. More ..

Neighbours at the east-end Toronto community housing complex were surprised.

"I'd see them (mother and child) every day. The baby was always well looked after and well dressed," said a tenant who didn't want to be identified.

The mother had been estranged from her husband for about two years, neighbours said. She and her daughter lived in a third-floor subsidized apartment of the Woodgreen Community Housing residence on Pape Ave.

Residents said police detectives and a forensic team had been in the apartment all weekend gathering evidence.

The unit had been sealed as a crime scene and a 24-hour police guard has been posted in the hallway outside.

Ralph Ritchie said he met the baby's mother at a club in 2000 and lived with her on and off until Starlin was born.

He filed a motion to claim custody of Starlin the day after she was born, he said.

But Ritchie eventually withdrew the paternity claim a year or so after because he would have had to pay $850 for a DNA test, which he couldn't afford, he said.

Ruth Ann Waide, 31, was charged yesterday with manslaughter.

WITH FILES FROM EMILY MATHIEU and hicham safieddine