A young mother has been arrested after her son died after allegedly spending days strapped to a car seat in her home without food.
Lovily K Johnson has been charged with felony murder and first-degree child abusefollowing the death of her son Noah Edward Johnson at their apartment in Wyoming, Michigan.
Police said Johnson had arrived at the local hospital last week with Noah who was already “clearly deceased and had been for some time”.
In a statement the force said: “Johnson . . . admitted that Noah was under her care and no one else’s care for the last four days.
“Johnson admitted to being at home multiple times a day during that time frame.
“She knowingly and intentionally deprived him of the necessities of life by not feeding him since Monday evening.
“During this time, Noah remained buckled in a car seat on the upper floor of Johnson’s apartment with no air conditioning.’’
The 22-year-old, who is on probation from a conviction for embezzlement from a local business, also has a two-year-old daughter has been placed in temporary social care until she can be put in her paternal grandmother’s custody.
The grandmother, who did not want to be named, said she believed Johnson was mentally ill and “the system failed her”.
She told Wood TV 8: “It’s like I’m looking at a ‘Law and Order’ movie. It’s not my life.
“I think the system failed her. I think the people she wanted to love her failed her.
“It feels like people did not do their job. It feels like they’re still not doing their job.”
A court petition to remove her daughter from her home revealed Children’s Protective Services had already raised concerns about Johnson.
Following the birth of her daughter in 2015, Johnson reportedly admitted smoking marijuana during her pregnancy and tests showed it in both her daughter’s, and later Noah’s, bloodstream.
It is understood that Johnson has limited contact with the father of her daughter, Marshall White, who pleaded guilty to aggravated domestic violence last year, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The man is believed to be the biological father of Noah but is getting DNA testing done to be sure.
Johnson is believed to have filed a personal protection order against him and a petition for child support.
Lovily appeared in court at Wyoming District Court via video link last week and was remanded in custody.
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