A mother and grandmother have both been arrested on suspicion of murder after a nine-year-old girl died due to a severe case of head lice.
Sandra Kraykovich, 38, and Elizabeth Kraykovich, 64, were both charged over the death of the unnamed child.
Court documents told how emergency services came to their home in Tucson, Arizona, on June 22 and found the girl unresponsive with ‘a large amount of bugs on her face’.
They added: ‘Upon closer inspection it was discovered that there was an enormous amount of lice in her hair.’
Authorities say that text messages sent by the mother prove she was aware of her daughter’s condition,reported.
She texted her boyfriend on March 14 and 15 regarding the issue and on March 21 wrote: ‘OMG babe. Listen I’m in my room and my mom called me. (redacted) was asking if I could check on her to make sure she isn’t dying.’
Police said that despite the boyfriend telling her to take the girl to the hospital, she did not.
One of her older children claimed she had tried to treat the lice using mouthwash.
The grandmother is also accused as she was allegedly aware of the severity of the condition.
She had discussed calling 911 but did not, and text Sandra that the girl ‘can’t go to the ER with her hair but that’s left to me because you not home’.
An autopsy found that the girl died from anaemia which was connected to an infection from the head lice infestation.
It found that malnutrition was also a contributing factor.
The girl’s overall cause of death was given as neglect by the Pima County Medical Examiner.
After the two women were arrested, Sandra’s other two older children, who also had lice, were placed in the custody of other family members.
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