Mother charged after 1-year-old son died in Hurricane Florence
Source: CBS News
MONROE, N.C. -- The mother of a 1-year-old who was swept into floodwaters created by Hurricane Florence has been charged in the boy's death. The Union County Sheriff's Office said in a statement posted on its Facebook page that 20-year-old Dazia Ideah Lee of Charlotte is charged with involuntary manslaughter and driving on a closed or unopened highway.
"The tragic death of this child and the circumstances surrounding this case are heartbreaking," Sheriff Eddie Cathey said in the statement. "We continue to pray for all those suffering as a result of this child's death. However, after a very thorough investigation and taking all facts into consideration and applying the law, we feel that these charges are appropriate."
Authorities said the water from a rain-swollen creek pushed Lee's car off the road and left her stuck in a group of trees on the night of Sept. 16. Lee said she was able to get Kaiden Lee-Welch out of the car, but the water caused her to lose her grip.
<snip>
Lee told news outlets she wasn't from the area and was unfamiliar with the roads. She is due in court Nov. 20.
Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mother-charged-after-1-year-old-son-died-in-hurricane-florence-2018-10-30/
IMO those charging her are heartless bastards.
RobinA
(9,894 posts)We're well on our way to criminalizing all behavior that leads to a tragic result.
DURHAM D
(32,611 posts)TexasBushwhacker
(20,214 posts)There are white parents who let their kids fry in hot cars that weren't charged like this.
violetpastille
(1,483 posts)That poor kid. Only 20 years old.
I hope that the jury will be empathetic.
raccoon
(31,119 posts)shoots himself dead accidentally...and the parents arent charged.
Parents are charged for the kid getting a gun and for leaving the baby in the car on a hot day.
Laffy Kat
(16,386 posts)marble falls
(57,204 posts)cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)if they have evidence she did that then it potentially becomes negligent homicide.
Her best tactic in this case if she did do that would probably be to try and strike a plea deal.
marble falls
(57,204 posts)do not get how little water, only up to the bottom edge of the rim about six inches, it takes to wash someone off the crossing and into deep water. The one I think truly need arresting are locals who thing their off-road set ups are invincible. They do get billed for their rescues and the police will arrest them if they drive around a sitting black and white, the cops will knock a window out dragging them from their vehicles even if they didn't make it to the water.
In 2007 we had two high school-ers washed away from crossing the creek that runs in our backyard (up 18 ft), they never found one of their bodies or the Jeep, the thought being they went into the lake about a mile downstream. We missed getting flooded by about six feet, the water was running about 20 ft from the house.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)People think it could never happen to them and thus they make foolish choices but any flooding is nothing to sneeze about and its why I usually stay home when the weather will be that bad as just about anything can wait until after the rain and flood conditions have subsided.
marble falls
(57,204 posts)someone else hydroplane across the 70 and 75MPH two lane roads we have here in Texas is not something is I want to deal with.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)its an issue of I am not that crazy LOL
marble falls
(57,204 posts)easily but backing off the pedal a little almost instantly gets it back in line and you can feel it grab the road. My wife has a new KIA Sportage, but if I had it to again a six cylinder makes better sense than the four it has. Both cars handle snow really well. I think the right tires make a big difference.
The Focus is a nice enough car, just too little. My Freestyle reminds me of a husky station wagon, its got a 400 mile range on the hi-way and rides like a charm. It tells me when to change the oil and when to fill up.
I love that Freestyle. 130,000 miles and rides like new.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)Rio or a Soul depending on the price.
marble falls
(57,204 posts)Saw a 2018 KIA Sportage on the road to Temple last week and it is a sharp looking vehicle, not so Jeepy looking as ours.
A couple of our friends have Souls and in spite of the slightly weird look (to me), they like them just fine. I think the Rio is a nice looking ride. The other KIAs was an Optima that people thought was a BMW because of the pearled paint and how sharp it looked, an a '98 Kia 3 that we gave to our son in 2001. Small but at 6'2" he still had plenty of room. Took him four years to wear it out. A record for him.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)everyone to and from work as well as other places and thats why we are looking at a Kia.
I wish they had mass transit here but its completely non existent and no way in hell can we afford a cab or uber.
marble falls
(57,204 posts)money in the bank! Plus the young folks like Focus because it can be tricked out cheap with a new chip, a trick exhaust and tires and rims.
I love taking a bus or train. But cheap energy keeps mass transit a dream. I'd take a jitney to the local towns or Austin if there was one.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)with them which we had to shell out 1k of our own money to fix when it finally hit ours plus they are not going to be importing them anymore into the US.
marble falls
(57,204 posts)was one of them? 1k on a high mileage car seems reasonable. I think looking at Kia is a good strategy, it certainly worked well for us.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)Personally I suspect the real reason is the problems with the new type of transmission they were using in them plus the car got a rep as the least reliable for its size class vs all the other automakers comparable vehicles.
marble falls
(57,204 posts)LoveMyCali
(2,015 posts)which I'm still driving. I love the Soul. The Rio was fun to drive but I live in upstate NY and it was terrible in snow. I would be happy to get another Soul when the time comes.
xor
(1,204 posts)I bet that event you're talking about took place the same time I had a scary situation around Lake Travis near Volente. I was new to the area and decided to drive around to check things out during that heavy rain. Passed over a bridge that seemed fine and maybe drove 15 minutes before deciding to head back (didn't know where I was going and didn't have a GPS at the time) On the way back the bridge I crossed pretty much turned into a river. I had enough sense to not try to cross it, and luckily someone who driving out showed me another to get where I needed to go.
marble falls
(57,204 posts)sometimes they flood from rain that fell an hour before 20 or 30 miles away and its sunny not a cloud in the sky where the flooded wash is.
You have the makings for a survivor. Keep your feet dry and your car out of the drink!
PatSeg
(47,586 posts)That is insane.
cstanleytech
(26,319 posts)closed but hopefully the court will be merciful if she is convicted given that she did lose her child.
Hortensis
(58,785 posts)By far most people who foolishly and unnecessarily put relatives' lives on the line this year did not cause tragedy, but all should not have done it and this is for those like them.
This is hard, and I only hope enforcement has nothing to do with skin color, but isn't the tragedy that makes our hearts ache for this poor mother and baby.
libdem4life
(13,877 posts)Colin K. and other united sports stars...we salute your mission using your popularity to expose this racial travesty that happens day in and day out. Blessings.
jmowreader
(50,562 posts)RobinA
(9,894 posts)theyll pretty much nail anybody, race not determinate. There was actually a whole article about jamming up mothers who leave kids on the car when they run into a mini mart.
Glimmer of Hope
(5,823 posts)KWR65
(1,098 posts)Thoughts and useless prayers.
GulfCoast66
(11,949 posts)packman
(16,296 posts)Don't the law enforcement people in North Carolina have better things to prosecute
More_Cowbell
(2,191 posts)This story makes it seem like other people might have moved the barricades first, before THEY drove over the bridge. At least, it seems like a possibility.
I can tell you that the barricades were up there, Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said the day after Kaiden was swept away. Whether someone else moved those barricades and she drove around em, I cant say.
https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/local/crime/article220806720.html#storylink=cpy
mercuryblues
(14,537 posts)is common during flooding. I would not be surprised if that is the case here.
When we had floods here a truck of out of state workers went into a river because the bridge was out and the barricades were removed. 1 died and they never found out who moved them.
xor
(1,204 posts)Wonky.
Scalded Nun
(1,239 posts)How did I know 5 words into this article that she was not white.