Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Daughtry, right, pictured with daughter Ariyana
The mother of a three-year-old girl who was found dead in her mother’s apartment in Harlem says she will not let speculation about the child’s death mar her memory.
The death of Ariyana Daughtry was initially ruled as a suicide but later changed to an apparent homicide, raising questions of foul play.
Deanna Daughtry says she has not received any of the calls, letters or emails the police are investigating.
Two of Ms Daughtry’s friends are in custody in relation to her death.
Image copyright ITV Image caption Ariyana Daughtry was found dead in her mother’s apartment in Harlem, New York
Police had initially determined that Ariyana died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but in February a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide.
Ms Daughtry’s friend Latoya Hughes, who told police she found Ariyana in the apartment with her mother on 11 February, was arrested on Thursday in her home in Harlem.
Police are also searching for a second woman, Diana Dockery, 25, from Queens, who may have information about Ms Daughtry’s case.
Ms Daughtry had been living in the apartment with Ariyana, her three-year-old son, Antonio, and her five-year-old daughter Shaniqua, since last September.
The mother had been in a long-term relationship with Antonio’s father, Myron Brown, but has not mentioned him in a statement released by the family in February.
Ms Daughtry has two prior arrests on her record.
Image copyright Barcroft Image caption The family’s statement said Daughtry ‘always wanted to be a mother’
In 2008, she was convicted of child endangerment after she left her two young children home alone while she went to work.
In 2013, police arrested Daughtry for child neglect after the Department of Social Services received a complaint that she was keeping her daughters home alone without supervision.
They were found to be sleeping in the same room in their apartment.
She was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service and told to attend parenting classes.
The family, which lives in New York, issued a statement in January: “Deanna was always full of joy and compassion for everyone.
“She will be deeply missed, along with her daughters, who always wanted to be a mother.”