Photo: Alexandria Police Department
An Alexandria, Louisiana mother has been charged with second-degree murder in the death of her 5-year-old daughter, who passed away on July 17.
Jasmine Anderson rushed her daughter Audrey to the emergency room of a local hospital and informed staff that both had been involved in a car crash and the little girl had hurt her neck, the Alexandria Police Department says in a statement. Doctors pronounced the girl dead on arrival, even though the mother tried to act as if she were still alive when she got there.
At the same time, staff at the hospital also alerted the police, as is standard procedure. “For several hours, officers attempted to locate the area where Anderson claimed the crash occurred, however no evidence of any vehicle crash could be found,” the statement says. “The injury also did not seem consistent with what would occur during a crash.”
Officers with the traffic division were able to retrace Anderson’s steps and located the scene of the incident the next day. Their suspicions were confirmed: there hadn’t been a car crash. That same day, the autopsy revealed that the cause of death was injury to the neck.
A few days later, Anderson was arrested at her home and charges were formally brought against her the other day: she has been charged with second-degree murder. For the time being, she is being held in lieu of a $500,000 bail.
This is still an ongoing investigation, so police didn’t disclose the type of “accident” that ended the girl’s life, except to say it hadn’t been a car crash. They also refrained from offering more details on a possible motive.
Police are also looking at other deaths in Anderson’s family, all of them recent: her baby daddy died in 2016 and her younger son passed away in April this year, after a bottle cap got stuck in his neck. Alexandria Police Department Cpl. Wade Bourgeois tells NBC News they’re not reopening cases, but the fact that Anderson was with all 3 when they died is worth giving them a second glance.
At the same time, staff at the hospital also alerted the police, as is standard procedure. “For several hours, officers attempted to locate the area where Anderson claimed the crash occurred, however no evidence of any vehicle crash could be found,” the statement says. “The injury also did not seem consistent with what would occur during a crash.”
Officers with the traffic division were able to retrace Anderson’s steps and located the scene of the incident the next day. Their suspicions were confirmed: there hadn’t been a car crash. That same day, the autopsy revealed that the cause of death was injury to the neck.
A few days later, Anderson was arrested at her home and charges were formally brought against her the other day: she has been charged with second-degree murder. For the time being, she is being held in lieu of a $500,000 bail.
This is still an ongoing investigation, so police didn’t disclose the type of “accident” that ended the girl’s life, except to say it hadn’t been a car crash. They also refrained from offering more details on a possible motive.
Police are also looking at other deaths in Anderson’s family, all of them recent: her baby daddy died in 2016 and her younger son passed away in April this year, after a bottle cap got stuck in his neck. Alexandria Police Department Cpl. Wade Bourgeois tells NBC News they’re not reopening cases, but the fact that Anderson was with all 3 when they died is worth giving them a second glance.
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