Mom Questioned In Death Of 2-Year-Old Torrance Girl

TORRANCE (CBSLA) – Deputies are investigating the death of a 2-year-old girl in Torrance that occurred last week.

On Sept. 23, Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputies were called to the 22400 block of South Vermont Avenue to find the girl, identified as June Love Agosto, unresponsive.

According to the Los Angeles county corner's report, the child's mother — 34-year-old Lacey Mazzarella — told deputies that she left her toddler in a car in a Torrance driveway at 11:30 p.m. Sept. 22 in her car seat covered by a blanket with the heater on and the windows rolled up. According to the report, Mazzarella went to drink with a friend in another car and fell asleep.

Almost six hours later, at about 5 a.m. Sept. 23, Mazzarella said she found her daughter covered in vomit, "really hot" and unresponsive. Mazzarella said she took her daughter out of the car and tried to hose her off in the yard to cool her down.

The 2-year-old was rushed to the hospital, where the report said she arrived in full cardiac arrest with suspected burns to her face, chest and arms and a body temperature of more than 107 degrees. The toddler later died at the hospital.

The toddler's family on her dad's side said they knew Mazzarella was a recovering drug addict and lost custody of her first child, but they said until this happened they didn't know exactly why.

According to Connecticut State Police records, Mazzarella was arrested in a 2013 drug bust where police raided her home and found a 3-year-old on a bed with powdered cocaine, razor blades and medicine nearby.

The child's paternal grandmother said her family has not had contact with Mazzarella since the death, but they said tonight they bought a dress for the child they called "June-bug" to wear for her funeral. The family said they are scheduled to meet with detectives this week.

The cause of death has not yet been released, and nobody has been arrested in the toddler's death.