"Baby Grace" death now charged as homicide
CONWAY, S.C. -- Charges against a South Carolina woman who said she lost her 5-month-old daughter in a rain-swollen creek last week have been upgraded to homicide by child abuse.
Local media outlets report that 33-year-old Sarah Lane Toney was charged Monday.
She had been charged Thursday with unlawful conduct toward a child in the death of her daughter, Grace Carlson Santa Cruz, whose body was found after an extensive two-day search of a creek near the woman's home in Socastee, South Carolina.
In a recently-released police incident report obtained by 48 Hours' Crimesider, investigators say Toney was asked by an officer why she walked into the creek with the infant Nov. 3. She allegedly told him that it was because the baby was crying and then told him, "I was trying to find God."
She told police she entered the swift-moving water and slipped several times, and on the last time lost her hold on the child. The responding officer said Toney was emotionally distressed and appeared to be exhibiting signs of methamphetamine use, including twitching and scratching her skin.
The coroner ruled Friday that the child's death was a homicide but did not immediately release any information about the cause of the death.
Toney said at a bond hearing last week that she didn't intend to put the child in danger but wasn't able to hold onto her in the water.
That day, police say Toney showed up on a neighbors back porch drenched in water, saying the child had disappeared in the creek. On Thursday, a portion of the neighbor's 911 call was released, reports CBS affiliate WLTX.
"She's saying call the police because she just came to the river and had a baby with her," the caller told a dispatcher. "And now she doesn't have a baby. I'm not sure if she wants something. I have no idea, but you need to send someone over here please."