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Lawrence man arrested in 11-year-old’s death arraigned on child rape charge

LAWRENCE, MASS. (WHDH) - A Lawrence man arrested in connection with the death of an 11-year-old Haverhill girl was arraigned on a child rape charge Tuesday.

Miguel Rivera, 58, appeared in Lawrence District Court for a dangerousness hearing on the charges of permitting substantial bodily injury to a child and misleading a police investigation stemming from the Dec. 15 death of Precious Wallaces, according to the Essex District Attorney’s Office.

During his hearing, he was arraigned on the additional charge of rape of a child with force, the DA’s office said.

A judge ordered him held without bail on all counts.

Emergency crews responding to a medical call at a rooming house on Jackson Street on Dec. 15 rushed Wallaces from a family friend’s home to Lawrence General Hospital, where hospital personnel told officers that she had fentanyl in her system, according to a police report.

She was then transferred by medical helicopter to Tufts Medical Center, where she died the following Tuesday.

Medical Examiners have conducted an autopsy on Wallaces but have not yet ruled on the cause of her death.