THE INVESTIGATORS: DCFS previously involved with mother charged with murder in child’s hot car death

LAKE CHARLES, La. (WAFB) - A Lake Charles woman is charged with murder after allegedly leaving her baby in her SUV for around five hours Sunday, Aug. 14, resulting in the child’s death.

“You put a baby inside a car with the windows rolled up and that’s a recipe for disaster,” said Chief Deputy Gary “Stitch” Guillory with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office.

The 9News Investigators have learned Ivy Lee, 22, is charged with second-degree murder for the death of her 6-month-old baby girl. The Calcasieu Parish coroner identified the child as Carissa Lewis. Officials with the Calcasieu Parish Sheriff’s Office (CPSO) confirm the Department of Children and Family Services previously had contact with the mother after she was accused of abandoning another child in a hot car back in 2019.

RELATED: Lake Charles mother facing murder charge after allegedly leaving 6-month-old in car for hours

“Yes, DCFS was involved in the case,” said Chief Deputy Gary “Stitch” Guillory with CPSO. “They were called out but during the course of the investigation, the mother voluntarily gave us that baby before the state had to get involved. That baby was given to a family member so there was never another follow-up.”

Lee originally told detectives that the child was not in her care. She later told detectives that she left the child in her small SUV for around five hours while she was at work. Guillory said it’s unclear what the mother’s motives were but there’s no excuse for what she’s accused of doing.

“She knew that baby was in the car and she chose to go to work for an entire shift. There is no excuse,” added Guillory.

Now, there are new questions over whether Lee left the baby in the car on purpose.

“She claims she left the car running at first, but then a coworker told her that her car was running outside, and she didn’t realize it and went out there and just turned the car off,” said Guillory.

The 9News Investigators have learned Lee was arrested back in 2019 after abandoning another child in a hot car. That baby survived. It’s a preventable death, and Guillory says there is no excuse for what the mother is accused of doing.

“There is no excuse. She was charged with second-degree murder, and we feel that it was done intentionally,” said Guillory.

WAFB reached out to DCFS, and they provided the following statement:

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