LAKE CHARLES, La. — A woman faces second-degree murder charges after deputies said she left her infant daughter in her small SUV for approximately five hours.
The Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office said in a news release it had arrested Ivy L. Lee for the death of her baby. Deputies said in the news release that Lee flagged down an off-duty deputy and said her 6-month-old child was not breathing. Despite performing CPR and rushing the child to the hospital, the little girl was pronounced dead, deputies said.
Deputies said in the news release that Lee initially told them that the child had not been in her care, before ultimately admitting to driving to work and leaving the child in her car for approximately five hours.
“Somebody out there would have loved this child, somebody would have loved the opportunity to raise this child,” Calcasieu Parish chief deputy Gary Guillory told KPLC.
Investigators told KPLC that Lee was previously charged in 2019 for leaving a 2-month-old in a car.
“That child was removed from the home and placed with a family member,” Guillory told KPLC. “During the course of our investigation, we learned of other instances where Lee had left the child in the vehicle.”
Deputies said that when they searched Lee’s vehicle, they found suspected marijuana inside.
Lee was charged with second-degree murder and possession of marijuana. A judge set her bond at $1,204,000.