A senior Baltimore housing official resigned yesterday to stay home with her baby daughter, officials announced yesterday.

Appointed deputy housing commissioner in January 2000, Denise M. Duval was the third-highest-ranking official in the Department of Housing and Community Development.

She was paid $104,000 a year and oversaw legal code enforcement, construction and building inspections and permits. She joined the department in May 1997.

Duval leaves city employment just weeks after Mayor Martin O'Malley fired his parks chief and hinted that more dismissals were coming. But housing officials said Duval's departure was entirely her idea.

"She recently got a merit [pay] increase because of her good work," said Otis Rolley, first deputy commissioner. "She's really just a superstar, and we're going to miss her."