Guardian charged in death of Operation Smile baby

Tiny Tendral Meytok Gurung arrived in Hampton Roads in December to receive free surgery on her cleft lip and palate, the first step in claiming a new life after her family left her to die because of her facial deformity.

During her six weeks here, she inspired schoolchildren, brought adults to tears, and elicited several offers to adopt her.

But on Tuesday, the 9-month-old infant died in a bathtub in Miami in what Operation Smile officials called an "awful twist of fate."

The guardian who accompanied her from India, 32-year-old Samchue Negi, was charged in her death. Negi is the sister of the Buddhist monk who found the baby abandoned in a remote Nepalese village. Negi is being held in the Miami-Dade County Detention Center after being charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect causing great harm.

According to an arrest report, on Tuesday afternoon Negi left a 9-month-old child unattended in a bath for half an hour while she talked on the phone. The baby was found unresponsive, and attempts to revive her at the hospital were unsuccessful, the report said.

Although police would not identify the deceased infant as Tendral, officials with Operation Smile confirmed late Wednesday that the child they recently helped had died.

"We are distraught that her chance has been cut so short," a statement said. "Baby Tendral touched not only all of us at Operation Smile, but our larger community of staff, volunteers, donors and friends around the world."

Tendral arrived in the United States on Dec. 8 accompanied by Negi and her brother Lama Tenzin.

Tenzin traveled frequently to raise money for his orphanage, so Negi was tasked with the girl's daily care. The pair stayed in the homes of three Hampton Roads families while the baby was treated during her recovery.

By January, only faint scarring colored Tendral's repaired lip. The smiling, gurgling pink-clad baby was the highlight of the international charity's world summit meeting in January, and gathered crowds of oohing volunteers and staffers.

The infant also appeared at several Virginia Beach schools, where Operation Smile volunteers taught students about the international charity's mission.

Tenzin said during their visit that he hoped to return Tendral to her village to prove that birth defects are fixable and that girls can be educated.

"This little baby, she will be back someday, one of the most beautiful and educated," he said in December. "It's not changing the life of one child. It's changing the entire history."

In mid-January, Negi and Tendral left Hampton Roads for Florida, planning to visit the family that paid for their journey to the United States. They were staying in the northern Miami beachfront home of businessman Courtland Reeves, who funded the trip, when the baby died.

Reeves did not return phone calls or e-mails Wednesday.

Meghan Hoyer, (757) 446-2293, meghan.hoyer@pilotonline.com