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TEEN SHAKES, KILLS FOSTER TOT

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DAVID L. LEWIS

A Queens teenager with a history of psychiatric problems killed a foster baby girl placed temporarily in his family's home, the Daily News has learned.

The 14-year-old boy pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide yesterday for shaking the baby to death July 23 to stop her from crying. He faces up to 18 months behind bars.

The girl, Monnay Bolling, was 4 months old when she was found dead in her crib at the home on 222nd St. in Laurelton. Her funeral was held yesterday.

Monnay was placed in the home five days before her death by a foster-care agency while her permanent foster mother was away on vacation.

"I don't know how this got through, how the system broke down," said the first foster mother, Joyce Reid, who was hoping to adopt Monnay.

"The funeral was very rough," Reid said. "There's nothing like burying a baby you had all this time. It's more than words can say."

The teenager, whose name is being withheld by The News because he was charged as a minor, has a history that includes arson and had been institutionalized at least once, according to sources familiar with the case.

Cecilia Rivera Healy, executive director of St. Joseph's Services for Children and Families, the organization that placed Monnay, said her agency was aware the troubled 14-year-old was living in the house. The boy had his own history in the foster-care system and had been adopted by the family.

"Many foster homes in the system have children living in them where the children have had either emotional trauma or other physical trauma," Healy said. "There was no indication that it was not a safe environment."

Norman Corenthal, the chief juvenile prosecutor in Queens, said the teenager did not mean to harm the child.

"There was intent to quiet the child, and it was done in a way that was grossly irresponsible," he said.

The Administration for Children's Services is investigating, spokeswoman Leonora Wiener said.

ACS, which is responsible for children in foster care, had contracted with St. Joseph's to place Monnay.

1998 Aug 1