A 21-year-old Missouri mother, Alyssa Nicole Wehmeyer, is facing felony child abuse charges following the death of her 1-year-old child, who allegedly went without food for over 36 hours before passing away. Wehmeyer was arrested Monday on one count of abuse or neglect of a child resulting in death, according to an arrest warrant filed in Cape Girardeau Circuit Court.
An autopsy revealed the child had not eaten for approximately 43 hours, with medical examiners finding “very little evidence of food in the stomach.” Police were called to the Wehmeyer home on February 28 after the child was found unresponsive, KFVS reported.
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Officers discovered the lifeless body and launched an investigation, assisted by the Missouri Highway Patrol. During questioning, Wehmeyer reportedly admitted the child had not eaten since February 26 between 5 and 6 p.m. She told investigators she changed the child’s diaper on February 27 around 5:30 to 6 p.m. and put the toddler to bed by 6:30 p.m.
“At this time, it had been roughly 24 hours since [the child] had eaten,” the affidavit states. The child reportedly woke up crying at around 2 a.m. on February 28, and Wehmeyer held the child for 30 to 40 minutes before putting them back to bed.
She did not check on the child again until approximately 1 p.m. when she noticed “its lips were blue and [it] was not breathing.” Investigators also noted severe blisters on the child’s buttocks from diaper rash. Wehmeyer admitted it had been nearly 19 hours since she last changed the diaper.
“Wehmeyer informed us that she should have taken [the child] to the doctor on the 27th and should have changed [its] diaper more regularly, but she had a migraine,” the affidavit states. She claimed to have taken three Excedrin and laid down for a nap while alone with the child.
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Wehmeyer also admitted she did not seek medical help for the child’s malnutrition or severe diaper rash. The arrest warrant alleges the child had not eaten for 43 hours and had been left unattended for at least 19 hours.
Wehmeyer, who has no prior criminal history, was arrested at the conclusion of the interview. She is being held on a $100,000 cash bond in the Scott County Jail and does not yet have an attorney listed in court records. The case has sparked outrage and grief in the community as authorities continue their investigation.
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