GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Wyoming mother accused of leaving her 6-month-old son in a sweltering apartment, strapped in his car seat for days says his death was an accident.
Lovily Johnson spoke with 24 Hour News 8 Friday, two days after a judge declared a hung jury in her trial for first-degree child abuse and the murder of baby Noah.
The Kent County medical examiner says the infant died in July 2017 from homicidal neglect. Authorities said for three days, baby Noah was left alone in an apartment where tempeartures topped 90 degrees while Johnson went out, shopped and smoked. When she returned home to find him not breathing, she took him to the hospital.
An emergency room doctor testified that by that point, Noah had already been dead for some time. The medical examiner said Noah was starved and dehydrated; diaper rash found on his body was so severe, it melted away some of Noah’s flesh, according to trial testimony.