The culprit turned out to be the lead paint chips and dust in apartment 5 at 102 Bridge St. in Manchester, where the malnourished child had spent a month picking small holes in a bedroom wall to eat the plaster, and nibbling on the abundant chips on the outdoor porch. Yesterday, Abek's tragic story came one step closer to ending when, for the first time in New England history, the landlord who rented the apartment pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in connection with the lead poisoning case. Although he was not blamed for the girl's death, he pleaded guilty to failing to tell Sunday's parents of the lead paint danger and then trying to cover up that failure.
The culprit turned out to be the lead paint chips and dust in apartment 5 at 102 Bridge St. in Manchester, where the malnourished child had spent a month picking small holes in a bedroom wall to eat the plaster, and nibbling on the abundant chips on the outdoor porch. Yesterday, Abek's tragic story came one step closer to ending when, for the first time in New England history, the landlord who rented the apartment pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in connection with the lead poisoning case. Although he was not blamed for the girl's death, he pleaded guilty to failing to tell Sunday's parents of the lead paint danger and then trying to cover up that failure.