Authorities in Louisiana have charged a mom with second-degree murder after leaving her six-month-old infant in a hot car for around five hours. According to the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office, Ivy L. Lee, 22, flagged down an off-duty officer in Lake Charles around 3:45 p.m. on Sunday, August 14 since her child wasn’t breathing.
As stated by the sheriff’s office, the child was certified dead at the hospital after being resuscitated by a second deputy who came to the scene. According to the National Weather Service, Lake Charles reached a peak temperature of 90 degrees on Sunday. Chief Deputy Stitch Guillory stated that eventually she indicated that she left the infant in her car while she went to work from 10:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Carissa Lewis, the baby, has been identified.
This isn’t Lee’s first time being suspected of child neglect. She nearly died in 2019 after leaving her first kid, who was two months old at the time, alone in a car. She was subsequently accused by the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, however after pleading guilty, she was only charged with criminal mischief.
Avereigh, her elder daughter, was entrusted to Lee’s sister, Ashley Lee, who has been caring for Avereigh since 2019. Ashley reported that her sister’s relationship with the family and her children was strained. She went on to say that they had made an attempt to help Lee with Carissa. It’s heartbreaking – how do you communicate this to Carissa’s sister, how do you console the family? On top of that, it’s been a lot with it being my sister, Ashley stated
Ashely reported that DCFS attempted to reach Lee and make house visits, but to no avail. They stated they were going to call her and let her know what was going on. This all occurred so fast that they couldn’t even phone her to tell anything about Avery, what’s going on with Avery, this occurs with a new kid, the sister added. Lee was also discovered to be in possession of marijuana, according to the cops. The judge set her bail at $1.2 million.
The infant’s death was the 16th hot vehicle kid death in the United States this year, according to the National Safety Council. According to study, the temperature inside a car may jump from 72 degrees to 117 degrees in only one hour, emphasizing how hazardous it can be to leave a child in one.
