Mother Is Charged in Boy's Death Swept Away by Hurricane Floodwaters

As Hurricane Florence took the lives of more than 40 people in the Carolinas and Virginia in September, the death of 1-year-old Kaiden Lee-Welch stood out as especially tragic.

His mother, Dazia Lee, 20, had tearsfully recounted to reporters what had happened: When floodwaters overwhelmed her vehicle and shoved it off the road, she managed to get her hands in the torrent. His body was found next day, a bumper and a tree.

"Ms. Lee told reporters at the time.

But Ms. Lee had driven a barricade and a road that the authorities had closed because of flooding. As a result, the Sheriff's Office of Union County, N.C., presents her on Monday with involuntary manslaughter.

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"The tragic death of this child and the surrounding area is heartbreaking," the sheriff, Eddie Cathey, said in a statement. "We continue to pray for all those suffering as a result of this child's death. However, after a very thorough investigation and taking into account all the facts and applying the law, we feel that these charges are appropriate. "

Ms. Lee also faces a misdemeanor charge of driving a closed highway.

South Carolina authorities are still investigating a similar deadly incident in that state during the storm. Two women seeking mental health care have been transported to the country by sheriff's deputies to hospitals when the deputies drove around a barricade and a closed road. When the van became trapped in floodwaters, Nicolette Green, 43, and Wendy Newton, 45, who drowned.

The Horry County Sheriff Office fired the two deputies, Stephen Flood and Joshua Bishop, last week.

Scott Bellamy, a lawyer representing Ms. Green's family, said the family was satisfied with the dismissal of the deputies, but still planned to pursue a civil suit.

"The biggest thing is, they would like to see us in South Carolina transport and treat mentally ill people," Mr. Bellamy said, adding that the women were transported in the same way as would be used to "murder" and a rapist. "

The chairman of the State Senate's committee on corrections and penology, Shane Martin, said on Monday that he was making up a subcommittee to study the issue.