Kentucky woman charged with killing her 17-month-old baby, held on $1M bond

Christopher Leach
·1 min read
2

A Kentucky woman was indicted on a murder charge Tuesday after allegedly killing her 17-month-old baby, according to court records and Lisa Fugate, the Bell County commonwealth’s attorney.

Erica Lawson, 21, is facing charges of murder (aggravated circumstances — intentional death of a child), failure to report child dependency neglect or abuse, first-degree criminal abuse and first-degree wanton endangerment, according to court records. She was being held at the Leslie County Detention Center Wednesday on a $1 million bond.

Middlesboro police said they began investigating the case in late July when the 17-month-old baby girl died. The investigation later led to the arrest of Lawson.

“Lt. Detective [Barry] Cowan and joint investigator Officer Caleb Ayers have been diligently looking into hundreds of leads which have included multiple interviews,” Middlesboro police said in a Facebook post on Aug. 4. “Along with evidence gathered in the investigation was DNA from subjects questioned as to their role in this incident.”

Lawson will be back in court in November for an arraignment.

“Today, I had the privilege of presenting the case against Erica Lawson to a Bell County Grand Jury,” Fugate wrote in a Facebook post Tuesday. “I am proud to say Erica Lawson now stands charged with the murder of her 17 month old baby.”