4-year-old dies after drinking whiskey; grandmother, mom jailed
BATON ROUGE, La. (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — A 4-year-old girl in Louisiana is dead after her grandmother allegedly forced her to drink a bottle of whiskey while her mother watched.
Sgt. L'Jean McKneely, a Baton Rouge police spokesperson, told news outlets the little girl's grandmother, Roxanne Record, 53, and mother, Kadjah Record, 29, were arrested April 22, each on a charge of first-degree murder. It was unknown if either had an attorney who could speak on their behalf.
Officers were sent to a Baton Rouge home around 11:00 a.m. on April 21 after reports of an unresponsive child. The child, 4-year-old China Record, was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.
According to an arrest warrant obtained by CBS television affiliate WAFB the adult women were upset because the little girl may have drunk from a bottle of whiskey in the house, so the grandmother allegedly forced the toddler to drink the rest of the liquor that was in the bottle while the mother watched. It is believed the bottle was more than half full.
The East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office said an autopsy showed a cause of death was acute alcohol poisoning. The little girl had a blood-alcohol level of .680%, more than eight times the .08% driving limit for an adult, authorities said.
Police say the investigation into the death is ongoing.