A day care operator and a caregiver have been charged in connection with the death of a 10-month-old baby at a Garfield day care center, nearly two years after police say the baby girl was fatally injured by a 7-year-old girl.

Loretta Bray, 48, who was the operator of Bray's Brats Day Care, and Ashley Swann, 21, a caregiver, are charged with endangering the welfare of children. The women were arraigned Monday after turning themselves in, said Pittsburgh police Cmdr. Thomas Stangrecki.

In a criminal complaint, police said that Ms. Bray's failure to leave a qualified staff member in charge during her absence resulted in the death of Marcia Poston.

According to the complaint, Ms. Bray had asked Ms. Swann -- who was not certified to work at Bray's Brats Day Care -- to supervise several children on June 6, 2008, when she left the day care center to run errands.

While Ms. Bray was gone, Ms. Swann went to the third floor of the day care center to change her son's diaper, leaving Marcia and four other children in the basement for more than 20 minutes.

After changing her son's diaper twice, Ms. Swann then went to the kitchen and began making Spaghetti-O's for the children, according to the criminal complaint.

When she returned, she found Marcia face-down on the floor, surrounded by blood-stained tissues.

Marcia was killed by excessive blunt-force trauma to the head, according to the Allegheny County medical examiner's office.

Police said at the time of the killing that a 7-year-old girl had admitted to pulling Marcia from her baby chair, smashing the baby's head on the carpet-covered concrete floor.

Because of her age, the 7-year-old was not charged with any crime.

The Allegheny County district attorney's office was reviewing the case in August 2008, after Common Pleas Judge Kim Berkeley Clark said she did not believe the girl who was blamed for the death was responsible.

The 7-year-old girl, Ms. Bray's granddaughter, was placed in foster care. The day care center closed soon after Marcia's death.

Following their arraignment, bond was set for both women at $10,000 each.

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