9-year-old Alabama girl, aunt charged in alleged beating death of 4-year-old boy

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A 9-year-old girl from Mobile, Alabama, is accused of beating her 4-year-old brother to death with a broomstick, county records show.

Authorities have arrested and charged the 9-year-old in the boy's death. 

Authorities have also charged the children's aunt and caregiver Yolanda Denise Coale, 53, with aggravated child abuse of a child under the age of six. She is being held on $150,000 bond, according to county filings.

Yolanda Denise Coale of Mobile, Ala. (Mobile Sheriff's Office)

Mobile police responded Feb. 3 at 8 a.m. to reports of a child with a medical injury at a home on Jacob Drive. Upon arrival, authorities found the deceased 4-year-old boy with previous injuries, signifying "long-term abuse," an arrest report reads.

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Coale woke up the morning of Feb. 3 to the sound of children screaming and found the girl beating her brother, according to court documents.

A friend of the 53-year-old woman told FOX 10 Mobile she had never seen Coale "yell at anyone, scream or lose her temper."

Jacob Drive in Mobile, Ala. (Google Maps)

"I'm unaware of any abuse that Ms. Coale could be accused of," the friend told the outlet. "I've never seen her be aggressive to anyone. To me, her children, her grandchildren."

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Coale, who was previously arrested in 2005 for allegedly giving alcohol to a minor, pleaded not guilty to the latest charges in Mobile County court Wednesday morning, according to WKRG.

The investigation into the boy's death remains active and ongoing, according to the arrest report. The Mobile Police Department did not respond to inquiries from Fox News Digital.