HOT SPRINGS -- A Hot Springs couple were arrested Tuesday in the early July death of their 1-month-old daughter after a months-long police investigation.
Adam Levi Love, 33, and Maria Virginia Lamb, 28, were taken into custody and each charged with one count of negligent homicide.
Love was also charged with two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, while Lamb was charged with one count. All of the charges are misdemeanors punishable by up to a year in jail.
Both were held Tuesday night in lieu of $50,000 bond and are set for arraignment Sept. 29 in Garland County District Court, although they will likely make an initial appearance before then.
According to the affidavits, shortly after 7:30 a.m. July 10, police responded to a home regarding the death of a child and arrived to find Lamb sitting on the front porch holding her infant daughter, identified as Lynzi Love, born June 3. The infant was not breathing and was cold to the touch.
During the investigation, it was determined that Lamb had placed the child on a twin-size bed between her and Love, the child's father, to go to sleep.
Later than night, the parents found her wedged between the mattress and a sofa that was pushed against the head of the bed, the affidavits said.
The couple's three other children, ages 4, 2 and 1, had been sleeping on the sofa next to the twin-size bed. Garland County Coroner Stuart Smedley pronounced Lynzi dead at the scene about 8:45 a.m.
Arkansas Department of Human Services personnel were notified and responded while the officers were at the scene. They had Lamb and Love submit to urinalysis tests.
Both Love and Lamb tested positive for benzodiazepines, opiates, oxycodone, and cannabinoids, or marijuana, the affidavits said. Human Services Department officials took custody of the children.
On July 15, the three children were taken to Arkansas Children's Hospital for a follicle test to check for drugs. The 4-year-old and 2-year-old both tested positive for the presence of marijuana, according to the affidavits, and the 1-year-old was unable to be tested due to his lack of hair.
After further investigation, warrants were issued Friday for Love and Lamb on the charges.
State Desk on 09/16/2015