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Lodi Mom Accused Of Beating Baby Was Ex Of Man Shot By Police, Source Says

LODI, N.J. – A 23-year-old Hackensack hair stylist who authorities said beat her 5-month-old daughter -- leaving her with several broken bones -- once dated an ex-con who was killed after he charged at police with a large knife, a close family friend told Daily Voice.

Dalia E. Toalongo

Dalia E. Toalongo

Photo Credit: MUGSHOT: Courtesy BERGEN COUNTY PROSECUTOR

"It breaks my heart seeing my daughter in bed," Dalia E. Toalongo of Lodi wrote on her Instagram account with a photo of the severely injured infant, Ellen, in a hospital bed.

"Ima be next you, holding you baby," she wrote.

Daily Voice obtained but isn't publishing a copy of the photo, which shows at least one cast, on the sleeping girl's left leg.

The state Division of Child Protection and Permanency notified authorities after the infant was admitted to Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck on Sunday, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Gurbir S. Grewal said Tuesday.

Following interviews and further investigating, Grewal’s Special Victims Unit and Lodi police arrested her, the prosecutor said.

She remained held on $150,000 bail Tuesday in the Bergen County Jail, charged with aggravated assault and child endangerment.

Toalongo, who worked for her aunt at Hair Studio 251 in Hackensack, dated Elvin Diaz, 24, who was shot at his parents’ Temple Avenue home on May 21, 2015 after he charged at a police officer with a knife, threatening to kill him.

Grand jurors in Hackensack cleared the officers earlier this month.

"I used to see [Diaz] with her all the time at the hair salon," the family friend told Daily Voice. "I had to give them a ride a few times. They broke up after awhile."

Toalongo was scheduled for a first court appearance Wednesday.

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