Mom charged with murder after baby daughter died in hot car, and she DID THE SAME THING to her other child in 2019
LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA: Ivy Lynn Lee, 22, of Lake Charles, Louisiana, has been charged with second-degree murder after she left her six-month-old baby girl to die in a hot SUV for approximately five hours. “You put a baby inside a car with the windows rolled up and that’s a recipe for disaster,” said chief deputy Gary Guillory with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office (CPSO). The Calcasieu Parish coroner identified the child as Carissa Lewis.
CPSO officials confirmed that the Department of Children and Family Services previously contacted the mother after she was accused of abandoning another child in a hot car in 2019. “Yes, DCFS was involved in the case,” Guillory told WAFB. “They were called out but during the course of the investigation, the mother voluntarily gave us that baby before the state had to get involved. That baby was given to a family member so there was never another follow-up.”
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The mother of two reportedly ''flagged down'' an officer, saying that her daughter was ''not breathing". Officers performed "life-saving measures" on the child before transporting her to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead. In an interview with investigators, Lee told two stories, the first of which was that Clarissa was not in her care, but she later admitted to leaving the child in her car while she was at work.
''She knew that baby was in the car and she chose to go to work for an entire shift. There is no excuse,'' Guillory told WAFB. ''She claims she left the car running at first, but then a coworker told her that her car was running outside, and she didn't realize it and went out there and just turned the car off," he added.
Deputies also revealed that marijuana was discovered in Lee's vehicle and that she ''intentionally'' left the child in the vehicle. Lee was booked into the Calcasieu Correctional Center on a $1.2 million bond after being charged with second-degree murder and marijuana possession. Officials have also confirmed that the young mother left her other daughter Avereigh, now three, in a hot car in 2019. Avereigh is now in the custody of a family member, according to the Department of Children and Family Services.
In May, Lee wished herself a Happy Mother's Day by sharing a post on Facebook. She wrote, ''Being a mother is definitely not easy but the love you receive from your kids is unconditional. I can't spend today with the amazing little girl that made me a mother but [I know] she feels me every day. Ave, my oldest, you'll always have the biggest part of my heart no matter what anybody tell you. And Rissa, my youngest, [I know] you would love ya sister if you ever got the chance to meet her."