HOT SPRINGS -- A woman was arrested early Sunday and her 3-month-old child removed from her custody after she was accused of starving the infant last month.
Summer Rose Kazzee, 18, of Hot Springs was charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor, a felony punishable by up to six years in prison. She remained in custody Tuesday in lieu of $1,500 bond and is set to appear July 25 in Garland County District Court.
According to the affidavit, the child was admitted June 20 to CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs on an initial diagnosis of failure to thrive and extreme dehydration. A Department of Human Services family service worker responded to the hospital after receiving a report from the Child Abuse Hotline.
Kazzee and a 20-year-old man were reported as the parents and caregivers of the infant. The service worker learned that when the child was born April 24, it weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces, but when it was admitted to the hospital June 20 weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces.
It was reported that since the child's birth, two checkups with a primary care physician had been missed. The parents gave conflicting statements regarding the child's care and feeding. Hospital records and medical staff interviews revealed the infant appeared to have temporal wasting, an indication of starvation.
A doctor advised an average baby will gain 60 to 90 ounces by the time he is the infant's current age, but the infant had lost weight since its birth.
The affidavit notes the child has gained about 5 ounces since being hospitalized.
Hospital staff noted Kazzee was "not responding appropriately to their request to feed the child." The child has been placed in foster care.
State Desk on 07/20/2016