US Woman Convicted Of Poisoning 4-Year-Old With Whiskey, Causing Her Death

A 57-year-old woman in Louisiana, US, has been found guilty of manslaughter after prosecutors said she forced her four-year-old granddaughter to drink a lethal amount of liquor as punishment, leading to the child's death from acute alcohol poisoning, the New York Post reported. The incident happened on April 21, 2022, when the first responders were called to a home on Wallis Street in Baton Rouge just before 11:00 am (local time) for a report of an unresponsive child. They tried to revive the child, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.

As per the investigators, China took a single sip from a bottle of whiskey left on a kitchen counter, which angered her grandmother, Roxanne Record. She thought China may have drunk from the bottle, and as a punishment, she allegedly forced her to consume the rest of the 750ml bottle. As per the reports, the bottle was "possibly more than half full" when the punishment began.

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Prosecutors told jurors that China was forced to her knees in the hallway and made to finish the bottle while her mother, Kadjah Record, 29, watched and did nothing.

An autopsy by the East Baton Rouge Parish Coroner's Office showed China's blood alcohol content was 0.680, which is more than eight times the 0.08% legal driving limit for an adult.

The cause of death was acute alcohol poisoning.

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As quoted by the Advocate, Assistant District Attorney Dana Cummings, in the opening statement, described the relationship children have with grandparents, saying China "never had that".

"China never had that because her grandmother never, ever took to her, never liked her, treated her differently than she treated the other children," Cummings said.

Prosecutors alleged a "pattern of cruelty" inside the home. China was so marginalised, they said, that her siblings were conditioned to believe the four-year-old was "stealing" when she tried to access basic necessities like food and water.

"She... just went on with daily life while she died," Cummings told the jury.

Roxanne Record, then 53, and Kadjah Record were both arrested on April 22, 2022. Both were initially charged with first-degree murder.

According to the arrest warrant, Roxanne told investigators, "she messed up" and "wanted to take full responsibility" for the child's death. She also reportedly said, "This went too far" and "she ruined everyone's lives".

Kadjah allegedly admitted to seeing her mother leave the kitchen with the bottle. She said the bottle was empty when her mother returned, and later saw that China was unresponsive. Investigators said Kadjah gave several inconsistent statements.

"That little girl is gone, and it's a tragedy that nobody, no family, nobody should ever have to endure," Roxanne's lawyer, Caitlin Fowlkes, told jurors, as quoted in the report.

"But tragedy is not the same as murder. Accidents are not the same as intent. And grief is not the same as guilt," the lawyer said.

After a trial this week, a jury found Roxanne guilty of manslaughter in the 2022 death of China Record. She faces up to 40 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for August 10.

Kadjah Record was also arrested and is scheduled to return to court next month.