NAACP defends mother charged for son's death in hurricane floodwaters

[groundloop]

Source: CBS News

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The NAACP is speaking out in defense of a young mother from North Carolina who has been criminally charged after her son drowned in floodwaters from Hurricane Florence. The recovery of 14-month-old Kaiden Lee-Welch's body from a soggy field in September was heartbreaking for his 20-year-old mother, Dazia Lee.

"I was holding his hand, trying to hold him, trying to pull him up and it got to a point I couldn't hold him anymore, and he let go," she said.

On Monday, Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey held Lee responsible for her son's death, charging her with involuntary manslaughter. According to a criminal summons, Lee unlawfully drove around a highway barricade that had been placed there by the Department of Transportation due to flooding, and the road was not passable.

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"It is not a good decision, she has suffered enough," said CBS News legal analyst Rikki Klieman. "The only possible motivation of the sheriff to charge her with involuntary manslaughter is to deter others in the future."

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/dazia-lee-naacp-defends-mother-charged-for-sons-death-in-hurricane-florence-floodwaters/

[marble falls]

1. Good. The authorities picked on exactly the wrong case to make an example of ...

they should go after a local in a pickup or SUV they needed to rescue instead.

[iluvtennis]

2. This is just disgusting. A child's hand slips from his mom's during rolling flood water and she's

charged with murder. Are you serious?

[Honeycombe8]

4. It's more than that.

It's because she got in her car to drive to her grandmother's house, not in an emergency, because she thought the bad part was over, and then she decided to go down a road that was barricaded...she drove around the barricades. In an area that is flooded or has flooding, when you run across a barricade, you know not to go down that road. When she did, the car was hit with a rush of water. Also, a 14 month old can't hold hands enough to be safe in flood waters.

So it's all those things. She made some huge mistakes and seriously bad judgments, and broke the law when she tried to go down that road that was barricaded.

She was charged w/involuntary manslaughter.

Even with all that, I can't believe they charged her. It was a tragedy. I hope they drop the charges.

[iluvtennis]

5. Thanks for the clarifications. Agree with you it was a tragedy and there should be no charges.

[denvine]

3. Great!

So glad someone took her case. The charges are outrageous!