Watervliet 9-Year-Old Was Looking Forward To Starting 4th Grade Before Parents Charged In Death

By Michael Mashburn From Daily Voice

Loved ones said their final goodbyes to a 9-year-old New York girl whose parents were criminally charged following her death.

Nathalia Warner, of Watervliet, was laid to rest Thursday, Aug. 7, days after she was found unresponsive inside her family’s home and later pronounced dead at Samaritan Hospital.

Her parents – Jennifer Singleton, 37, and Harold Warner, 33 – were charged with two counts each of endangering the welfare of a child after a preliminary autopsy concluded she died from chronic constipation, as Daily Voice reported.

The manner of death was listed as natural causes, with final results pending further lab tests.

Singleton and Warner are accused of failing to provide adequate food and allowing Nathalia to live in hazardous conditions, including an unsanitary environment, according to court documents cited by Albany station WNYT.

The Albany County Office of Children and Family Services was notified and responded to the home, where a 10-year-old child also resides. The investigation remains ongoing.

Nicknamed “May May” and called “Shirley Temple” by her father, Nathalia was born in Springfield, Ohio, in February 2016. The family moved to Watervliet in 2023, according to her obituary.

“She loved school and was looking forward to entering the fourth grade this upcoming school year,” reads her memorial, which also noted that she loved the color pink, unicorns, and drawing.

“Those who knew her will treasure the friendship they shared with a talented, kind and happy person whose memory will long live in the hearts of those she touched during her short life.”