A four-year-old Louisiana girl died on Thursday after allegedly being forced by her grandmother to drink a bottle of whiskey as the child’s mother looked on.
Roxanne Record, 53, and Kadjah Record, 28, were both arrested the following day on charges of first-degree murder in connection with the death of China Record.
Police said the girl’s sibling told them the incident occurred after the child took a sip of whiskey from a bottle of Canadian Mist, which is 80-proof; her grandmother then punished the girl by forcing her, while on her knees, to drink the rest of the bottle, which was more than half full, The Advocate reported.
China Record had a blood alcohol level of .680% — over eight times the legal driving limit for adults — when first responders arrived at the house, Baton Rouge Police Department spokesman Sgt. L’Jean McKneely told the outlet.
The amount would be fatal even for an adult.
“After the girl finished drinking the whiskey, Kadjah Record placed her daughter in a bathtub, and neither woman sought medical care for China until after she had stopped breathing, police alleged in booking documents,” The Advocate wrote.
A neighbour on Wallis Street, where the fatal punishment was inflicted, called the child’s treatment “sickening” while talking to The Advocate. That feeling was echoed in social media comments after the Baton Rouge Police Department posted a release on social media with the women’s mugshots and details of the arrest - with one user calling the crime “incomprehensible.”
Both mother and grandmother were booked into East Baton Rouge Parish Prison on Friday; it was not immediately clear whether either had representation or when they were next due in court.
