Mother Left 6-Month-Old In Attic For 3 Days To Party, Baby Dies

A six-month-old baby died after his mother strapped him into a car seat and left him in a hot attic for three days while she went out to party, a court in Michigan heard. The mother of two, Lovily Johnson, 23 pleaded guilty to second-degree murder of her son Noah.

During a sentencing hearing last week, Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock called the circumstances of the case “extremely disturbing.” He sentenced the 23-year-old from 20 to 80 years in prison. Local media reported that the child did not have any food or water while in the car seat and his diaper too had not been changed.

“And what did you choose to do?” Trusock asked Johnson. “You went out with your friends, you partied, you sought out a place that had air conditioning and you used drugs.”

Trusock also told Johnson that he hopes she never regains an opportunity to care for any child. Johnson's 4-year-old daughter is now in foster care.

“I hope you think every day of how you killed your own child, ma’am,” Trusock continued.

The infant died on July 21, 2017, after being transported to a hospital. His decomposed body remained in the car seat for three days. An autopsy found the baby was severely dehydrate, malnourished and had severe nappy rash.

Johnson’s attorney, Jonathan Schildgren, said the single mother suffered from a dysfunctional childhood. “She’s a young kid who probably had her heart broken when she was born,” Schildgren said. “So do I think she has the heart and soul of someone who wanted to torture and sadistically murder her baby? No, she doesn’t.”

In a similar incident earlier this month, an eight-month-old baby died after his mother gave the child vodka to make him sleep so she could party. The child was suffering from a viral infection days before his death but the mother refused to hospitalize him. The incident took place in the town of Shebekino in western Russia's Belgorod Oblast region. Police launched an investigation into the mother and her husband, Mikhail Yarych, the baby's stepfather who was reportedly aware of the situation but did nothing to help the child while he was sick.