Coroner: Toddler died of multiple injuries

The York County Coroner's Office has announced the cause of death for Isabel Godfrey, 3, who died after being found unresponsive in her Jackson Township home on June 8.

According to the coroner's office, the cause of Isabel's death is multiple injuries and the manner of death is homicide.

Her mother, Regina Lester, 30, of 265 Chesapeake Estates, is accused of killing her.

Isabel's autopsy was scheduled for June 10, and her cause and manner of death were pending toxicology results. No additional information regarding the type or severity of the injuries will be released because of the ongoing homicide investigation, according to the coroner's office.

Northern York County Regional Police said in June that Isabel had numerous bruises on her body and several deep bite marks on her torso.

Police: Toddler homicide victim had deep bite marks

The background: Lester's charging documents state her 6-year-old son "frantically" ran to the home of neighbor Andrew Day and banged on the man's door, saying his mother was trying to kill his little sister. Day responded by running to Lester's mobile home.

On the way, he ran past Lester, who was naked in her front yard "hugging a tree," documents state.

"Day advised as he (passed by her), Lester stated, 'I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do it. You understand I had to get the darkness out of her. I'm sorry,'" documents allege.

Day then ran inside Lester's mobile home and saw Isabel, called Bella, unresponsive on the floor, with vomit coming from her mouth, according to police.

Jessica Colon, another neighbor who'd gone inside Lester's home, was on the phone with 911 while simultaneously performing CPR on Isabel, documents state.

Threat to kill others: While that was going on, Lester ran to a neighbor's house, banged on the door and said, "I need to kill your kids," according to charging documents.

Lester then started to run into the street, at which point a neighbor tackled her, subdued her and held her there until officers arrived, police said.

Lester worked as a server for many years at Cross Keys Motor Inn & Restaurant near New Oxford, Adams County, according to the manager there, Vickie Saltos.

"What we recall most about Regina is her love for her kids," Saltos told The York Dispatch. "Her kids were her life. ... That's all she spoke about."

When Saltos heard about the allegations, she "thought immediately this had to be drug-related because it's so out of character for her," she said.

"She loved her (three) children dearly. At least that's the impression we got from her," Saltos said. "We're all heartbroken and shocked. ... It obviously was drugs."

Lester remains in York County Prison after being denied bail.