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Murder charge made 1st degree

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A 262-pound Reading woman?s actions in the death of a 12-year-old girl were premeditated, prosecutors say. She is being jailed without bail in the killing

Holly Herman

Reading Eagle

Jan. 11--A 262-pound Reading woman was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and related charges in the beating of a 130-pound 12-year-old girl after an argument.

Investigators said Rose M. Boyd-Tolver, 40, of the 700 block of McKnight Street beat Amira Brown with a mop handle, then sat on Brown in the girl's bedroom at 630 Summit Ave. on Sept 4.

Boyd-Tolver was watching Brown in the child's home when they argued in the kitchen, according to court documents.

"Apparently, this was because Amira started to mouth off and otherwise argue, and refused to go upstairs to her bedroom," according to the records.

Boyd-Tolver was arrested Thursday and initially charged with criminal homicide, which is a general category that includes murder and manslaughter.

On Tuesday, District Attorney Mark C. Baldwin filed a charge of first-degree murder, which is a premeditated slaying.

Boyd-Tolver remained in Berks County Prison without bail.

Brown died as a result of the beating, medical officials said.

Barbara Martin, Brown's foster mother, found the Southwest Middle School seventhgrader lying unconscious beside her bed when Martin returned home soon after the beating, police said.

Investigators said Brown resided with her biological mother until she was 3, then with other relatives and in foster care. On Jan. 14, the foster agency Pennsylvania Mentor in Wescosville, Lehigh County, placed Brown with Martin, investigators said.

Police said Boyd-Tolver provided these statements about what happened Sept. 4:

On Sept. 5 she said she had hit Brown a few times with a stick from the yard, that Brown went upstairs to her room, and that Boyd-Tolver apologized.

On Sept. 7 she said she had beaten Brown with a mop handle in the kitchen and the bedroom.

On Nov. 28 she said Brown had grabbed the mop handle during the beating and that she had grabbed Brown around the waist. Boyd-Tolver said Brown was not breathing when she left the room.

On Nov. 29 she said she and Brown had been tussling when she sat on the child.

2006 Jan 11