SCOTTSBURG — A mother is facing charges after her four-year-old daughter was so infested with lice the hospital declared it a "near fatality," according to court documents.
A supervisor with the Department of Child Services told police they were starting a case after the child was taken to the hospital and her Hemoglobin levels were 1.7, according to a probable cause affidavit. Normal Hemoglobin levels are 12.
The girl couldn't walk and had to get at least four blood transfusions, according to the affidavit. The officer said he got pictures of the four-year-old and six-year-old girl showing an "infestation of lice like nothing I have ever seen before."
One of the girls was sent home from school in March after the school nurse found either nits or live lice "without the assistance of a comb" during three visits, according to the affidavit. Since then, the girl had 31 unexcused absences from school.
The children's grandmother told the officer she took the kids to the hospital after she went to the store to get more treatments and showed pictures of the lice to a pharmacist, who told her he'd never seen an infestation like that and to take the kids to the hospital, according to the affidavit. She said she asked her daughter how it got so bad and she said she didn't notice and was "just in a fog."
Their mother, Shyanne Singh, was charged in April with three counts of neglect of a dependent, according to online court records. A jury trial is scheduled for July.
