A 22-year-old mother was arrested again after her 20-month-old daughter died in her care. The mother, who has not been identified, was previously convicted of endangering the welfare of a minor in 2020 after her newborn son was found starved. She was sentenced to three years in prison but was paroled after eight months.
In the most recent incident, the mother told police that she put her twins down for a nap around 3 p.m. When her daughter Lucy refused to stay in bed, the mother put her in a car seat on the floor. She said she strapped both the top and bottom straps of the seat and her daughter began rocking herself to sleep, so she left the twins in the back bedroom, closed the door, and went to the living room at the front of the house.
The mother said she went to check on her children an hour and a half later. Her daughter was rocking and even clapping her hands, she said. After another thirty minutes, realized she couldn’t hear her daughter. She told investigators that she ran into the bedroom and found Lucy with the car seat buckle in her throat.
Police later revealed that the seat was only buckled at the top, allowing Lucy to move around and “scoot down to the bottom.” The toddler got the buckle across her neck which put pressure on the blood vessels and restricted the blood flow so she was strangled in a sense, the Sentinel-Record reports.
The mother was charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. She is currently being held in jail without bail. This is a tragic story, and it highlights the importance of getting help if you are struggling to care for your children. There are many resources available, and you don’t have to go through this alone. If you are struggling, please reach out for help.
