Pasco mother charged in 4-year-old daughter’s death

PASCO COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A Pasco County mother is in jail, accused in connection with the murder of her 4-year-old daughter.

The child died last August. An arrest report shows she was beaten and held down until she died.

The arrest report shows the child’s mother, Sonja Ann Zsiga, 33, was present when the child died and apparently did nothing to stop the crime.

According to court documents, an autopsy shows the child had at least 55 injuries, some of them severe. She suffered bruises and abrasions to her face, arms, legs and torso.

According to court documents, deputies were called to the child’s home on Newell Drive on Aug.18, 2023, after a report of an unresponsive child. When deputies arrived they found Leighana Cover, 4, dead.

An investigation revealed on July 5, 2023, the child showed up at her daycare with bruises on her face.

She was removed from the daycare on July 7 when employees questioned her about the bruises.

On July 23, additional photos of injuries to the child were seen by daycare employees, and yet they never reported the injuries to law enforcement.

On Aug. 14, she was seen by a doctor, but he did not see any injuries. On Aug. 17, she was seen by a dentist, who reported severe tooth decay, but no obvious injuries to he face or body.

On Aug. 18, according to the court documents, the mother and boyfriend were at home with the child and a witness. The witness was in the bedroom with the mother and father and the bedroom was divided by a sheet. On the other side of the sheet, the witness could hear the child screaming for more than 20 minutes and described the screaming as horror sounds, but the mother told him to shut up about it.

At this time, the witness says the mother’s boyfriend, Richard Guardino, went to the other side of the room to “calm the child down” and gave her what he described as a “bear hug”. The child stopped screaming, according to the witness, but the next morning she was found and was not breathing.

Guardino has not been charged in connection with the child’s death but he is in jail facing charges of possession of cocaine and meth.

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