A woman has been charged with manslaughter after she failed to obtain medical treatment for her 10-year-old daughter, who had Type 1 diabetes and was showing signs of complications from the disease before she died on a summer road trip, the police said.
Investigators believe the girl slipped into a coma in July and died from prolonged diabetic ketoacidosis, a life-threatening complication of diabetes, according to a statement on Friday from the Kirkland Police Department in Washington State.
The girl’s mother, Lloydina Shnea McAllister, 42, is from Kirkland, about 16 miles northeast of Seattle, and was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter on Nov. 4.
Ms. McAllister was arraigned on Nov. 13 and pleaded not guilty. She is being held at the King County Correctional Facility, with bail set at $1 million.
Lawyers for Ms. McAllister did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Sunday.
A police investigation into the girl’s death began in late July after she was brought to a hospital in Tacoma, Wash., on July 18, after already having died.
Investigators said the girl had slipped into a coma after showing signs of diabetic ketoacidosis, which develops when the body does not have enough insulin and can cause a type of acid, called ketones, to build up to dangerous levels, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
This complication usually develops slowly, according to the C.D.C., but if it is untreated, severe symptoms can quickly appear. These include fast, deep breathing, headache, nausea, vomiting and muscle stiffness or aches.
The Kirkland police chief, Mike St. Jean, said in a statement that it was “a complex and emotionally challenging investigation” that involved detectives, medical professionals and prosecutors.
“We remain committed to protecting our community’s most vulnerable residents, especially children who cannot advocate for themselves,” Chief St. Jean said.
The prosecutors said in court documents that Ms. McAllister had received “substantial education and training” on the risks of Type 1 diabetes for her child, but “failed to provide lifesaving care.”
The girl had been hospitalized because of complications from diabetes several times since her initial diagnosis in early 2018, prosecutors said in court documents.
When the girl was last hospitalized in May, two months before the road trip, medical professionals retrained Ms. McAllister on how to manage her daughter’s condition because of concerns about her prior handling of it, according to court documents.
Ms. McAllister and her daughter left for the road trip on July 17 with Ms. McAllister’s boyfriend, 12-year-old daughter and 1-year-old son. The day before they left, the 10-year-old’s insulin pump had a high blood sugar reading, according to court documents.
The girl showed signs of diabetic ketoacidosis during the journey, which went as far as Sacramento before the group turned back to Washington, according to court documents.
Ms. McAllister and her boyfriend drove roughly 714 miles and passed 31 hospitals while her daughter was dying in the car, prosecutors said.
Ms. McAllister told the police that she could tell her daughter’s ketones were high, but she did not call 911 or go to a hospital because she was not allowed to take the girl out of state under a parenting plan with the girl’s father and was concerned about the consequences of violating the plan.
Around 10 a.m. on July 18, Ms. McAllister texted her mother, who worked at a hospital in Tacoma, to tell her they were bringing in her daughter.
The girl had died before they arrived at the hospital, according to court documents. Prosecutors said the girl’s body was stiff and rigor mortis had set in, showing that the girl had been dead in the back seat of the car for hours, next to her older sister and younger brother.
Different medical providers had previously reported concerns about how Ms. McAllister was managing her daughter’s condition to Child Protective Services, according to court documents. Their concerns included missed and canceled appointments for diabetic checkups.
The girl’s teacher had said she constantly came to school with high blood sugar.
Cellphone records showed Ms. McAllister had been searching on her phone for ways to bring down blood sugar and ketones on July 18. Later in July, she searched for whether she needed a lawyer and how to delete messages from an iPhone.
After Ms. McAllister was arrested, she told the police that she thought she had more time to get her daughter to a hospital.
Amanda Holpuch covers breaking news and other topics.
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