What they did to the child is beyond horrific!
The mother and grandmother of a 9-year-old girl have been charged with murder after she died from a severe lice infection.
Sandra Kraykovich, 38, and 64-year-old Elizabeth Kraykovich, the mother and grandmother of the unidentified child have been arrested in Arizona and charged with first-degree murder, according to reports.
The pair were arrested for child abuse after emergency personnel responded to their Tucson home on March 22 and found the girl unresponsive with a large number of bugs on her face, court documents said.
The local fire department was called at around 2:30 a.m. for an unresponsive child at the women’s apartment on East Golf Links Road and was unable to revive the 9-year-old girl identified only as Kelcye. The police were called when it became apparent that the living conditions in the home were dangerous — and emergency responders found “a large amount of bugs on her face.”
Two other children, 11 and 13, were also in the home that investigators described as filthy.
Sandra told police that her daughter was anemic and had been sick for days, suffering from a fever, vomiting, headaches, trouble breathing, and even trouble walking, the Arizona Daily Star reported.
The women also told investigators that they decided against bringing the girl to the emergency room — and instead tried to treat her symptoms with Motrin. In one string of messages, Elizabeth told her daughter that Kelcye couldn’t walk without falling, wouldn’t respond to questions, and was having trouble breathing. In another, Elizabeth accused Sandra of wanting to spend time with her boyfriend rather than take care of her ill child.
The woman apparently decided against taking the nine-year-old to the emergency room because of the lice infestation — the very thing that killed her.
According to the Star, Sandra said that Kelcye “can’t go to the emergency room with her hair, but that’s left up to me cause [you’re] not home.”
One of the other children — both of whom also had lice — told police that Sandra had tried to treat the 9-year-old’s severe infestation using mouthwash. And the day before Kelcye died, Sandra texted her boyfriend saying, “OMG babe. Listen I’m in my room and my mom called me. [Redacted] was asking if I could check on her to make sure she isn’t dying.”
Both Sandra and Elizabeth were quickly arrested and charged with felony child abuse based on the condition of the two other children. But when the medical examiner’s report on Kelcye came back, the Kraykoviches were both hits with murder charges.
The autopsy was conducted by the Pima County Medical Examiner, who said the girl’s cause of death was neglect.
“She died from anemia from untreated lice infestation with malnutrition as a contributing factor.” Dr. Gregory L. Hess said in May. “That’s the cause.”
Kelcye also suffered from fluid build-up in her lungs and liver necrosis. according to reports.
Tucson police said that Sandra admitted that her daughter likely died of neglect, telling them that “if she had sought medical care, [her daughter] would probably still be alive.”
Both Sandra and Elizabeth were charged with first-degree murder and are being held at the Pima County Adult Detention Center. The other two children have been placed with family members.
Sources: AWM, Arizona Daily Star
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