UPDATE 1:25 P.M. — A police report for the incident tells the details of what happened when police investigated the incident that led to the arrest of Buford and West.

The sibling who reported that his sister was unconscious said that he found her on the floor with a sock in her mouth on March 7, according to the probable cause statement.

Officers arrived and found that Buford and West were asleep. The person who answered the door told them that “she choked,” referring to the child. The responding officer made contact with the two women and told them that he had been informed that there was a child dead in the home.

According to the probable cause statement, Buford went and found the deceased child under a blanket in the living room. The time of death was called at 8:50 a.m.

According to the probable cause, the deceased child appeared to have ligature marks on their wrists, ankles and neck. A sock next to her appeared to have blood on it. Also found were three lengths of rope.

Police spoke to the child who reported his sister being unconscious. He told them that he was woken up by his stepmother that morning and saw his little sister tied up. He added that his sister gets up in the middle of the night and steals food, so they had to tie her up to a futon.

Another witness said that she, West and Buford had for the last three months tied the child to the bed. According to one of the children, West had a bad back and would have them help her tie the child up.

Buford told police that the child “continued to steal food and that they tried numerous things to get her to stop.” They started with ducktape on her wrists and ankles and eventually moved to “hog-tying” her with nylon rope. The sock was to keep her from keeping the other children up at night with her “whining and crying.”

Buford and West have yet to be scheduled for a court appearance. OzarksFirst will update this article as more information is released.

Original article:

PULASKI COUNTY, Mo. — Two women have been charged in connection to the death of a child in Waynesville.

Angela West, born in 1983, and Shamira Buford, born in 1986, were charged with murder, involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child and child abuse, according to a press release from the Office of the Prosecuting Attorney of Pulaski County.

According to the release, a 5-year-old child was found dead in a Waynesville home after their sibling told a school resource officer that the child was “unconscious and unresponsive in the home.” The school officer called the Waynesville Police Department, which then discovered the child.

A warrant was issued for West’s and Buford’s arrest. They are being held at the Pulaski County Jail, the press release states.