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Syracuse - About 65 people gathered today to mourn Imani Jennings, the 20-month-old girl who police say was beaten to death by her mother's boyfriend.

On Saturday, police charged Anthony Weakfall Jr., 15, of 124 Fage Ave. with murdering Imani on Friday. Chief Gary Miguel said Weakfall spent nearly an hour beating the toddler with a metal rod, a cable cord, bedsprings and his fists because of a potty-training accident. He then left to attend Corcoran High School.

Detectives charged the mother, Cherron Patterson, 18, with felony assault and endangering the welfare of a child on Saturday because Miguel said she admitted to investigators that she, too, had beaten the baby in the past because of potty-training accidents.

Cherron's mother, Amy Patterson, 38, said today that she had admonished her daughter and Weakfall earlier this year for spanking Imani with force.




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