Woman Charged In Death Of 9-Month-Old Daughter Who Choked On Seat Buckle

A 22-year-old mother was arrested and charged with negligent homicide on Thursday, three months after her 9-month-old daughter choked to death on a car seat buckle on Aug. 17.

Summer Kazzee was putting her twins to bed in the afternoon but her daughter, Lucy Weber, refused to sleep. Kazzee reportedly put her daughter on a car seat on the floor and fastened its straps. She left her daughter "rocking herself to sleep" while she went to another room. She returned about 90 minutes later and found her daughter "clapping her hands". When Kazzee checked in after another half an hour, she found the child in the car seat with "the thing in her throat" — referring to the seat buckle.

Kazzee took the unresponsive child and called for help. After firefighters arrived at the scene, CPR attempts turned out to be unsuccessful. The child was later pronounced dead at the National Park Medical Center. Kazzee told the Hot Springs Police Department that she had tied a buckle around the bottom buckle so that her daughter "would not mess with it" but it was possibly not strapped completely.

Kazzee is held in the Garland County Detention Centre and the bond is set at $5,000 bond. She will appear in court on Nov. 18.

The mother was initially sentenced to three years in prison for endangering the welfare of a minor in 2016. Her two-month-old son was hospitalized due to starvation.

"The infant appeared to be dehydrated and starving prior to being admitted to the hospital and the child/parents failed to show at the [primary care physician] on at least two appointment," a document obtained by Oxygen.com stated.

The baby was able to survive and ultimately placed into foster care. In return, Kazzee was later paroled while her partner, Kody Weber, was sentenced to prison for six years.