Officials: Md. tot died in swing as mother pushed him for days
BALTIMORE -- Authorities say a mother placed her living toddler in a swing at a Maryland park one morning and he remained there until he was found dead of cold and thirst two days later when someone spotted the mother pushing her lifeless child in the swing.
The Charles County Sheriff's Office said Tuesday that 3-year-old Ji'Aire Lee, found in a La Plata park, died of dehydration and hypothermia. Authorities called his death a homicide.
Spokeswoman Diane Richardson says the boy and his 24-year-old mother arrived at the park the morning of May 20. She says the mother put the boy, who was alive, into the swing, where he stayed until he and his mother were found the morning of May 22.
Officers found the toddler after someone reported seeing a woman pushing a child on a swing for an unusually long period of time, reports CBS affiliate WUSA9.
Richardson says the case will be reviewed by prosecutors.
WUSA9 reports no charges have been filed, but the case could go before a grand jury next week.
The woman's mother told the station that she doesn't believe her daughter would hurt the child intentionally, but said she suffers from mental health problems.