BREAKING: Mother
charged with murder after 6-month-old left in car five
hours
A Lake Charles woman has
been charged with second-degree murder in the death of
her 6-month-old daughter.
According to the
Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office at about 3:45 p.m. on
Sunday, an off-duty deputy was flagged down by Ivy L.
Lee, 22, on the corner of Enterprise Boulevard and Broad
Street. Lee told the deputy her child was not breathing.
A patrolling CPSO deputy, who was also flagged down,
aided in efforts to perform life-saving measures on the
child. After being transported to a local hospital, the
6-month old was pronounced dead.
Chief Deputy
Gary Stitch Guillory said during a news conference on
Monday that Lee initially gave CPSO two different
stories. She initially said the child had been in the
care of family members. Lee then changed her story,
Guillory said, explaining the child had been in the care
of a babysitter she found on Facebook.
Lee
ultimately told deputies the child had been left in her
small SUV while she went into work. The child was in the
car for about 5 hours, from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Guillory said he believed the average heat index on
Sunday was about 100 degrees.
Lee said she
initially left her car running, but did go back to turn
her car off after a co-worker informed her her SUV was
still running. After she got off of work, Lee she
believed the child was sleeping in the car, and
proceeded to drive around. It was later that she stopped
to flag down the two deputies.
Guillory said CPSO
is still in the process of reviewing surveillance
footage.
Upon investigation of the vehicle,
marijuana was found.
Lee was previously arrested
for the desertion of a 2-month-old child in November of
2019. Lee pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of criminal
mischief for that charge. Guillory said multiple
unreported incidents of Lee leaving children unattended
in a car are suspected.
Lee’s bond has been set
at $1,204,000 by Judge Tony Fazzio.
“It’s a
pretty sad situation,” Guillory said. “This poor
6-month-old had so much taken away from her.
“This is a situation that should not have happened.
We’re asking if you’re a mother or expectant mother and
you don’t want your child, please just drive to a local
police or fire station,” he said. “Somebody out there
would have loved this child … this is just senseless,
useless.”