Mum charged after daughter almost dies from lice
A woman in Indiana is facing neglect charges after investigators said her four-year-old daughter nearly died from a severe lice infestation that resulted in multiple blood transfusions.
Shyanne Singh, 26, was arrested on Tuesday, May 4 on three felony counts of neglect of a dependent. She was released from custody on Friday at the Scott County Jail.
Scottsburg police were contacted April 20 after Singh’s daughter was taken to hospital. According to a probable cause affidavit, doctors declared her a “near fatality” because lice had fed off her for so long.
The child was so sick she couldn’t walk. According to court documents, a Department of Child Services supervisor also told police the girl’s blood haemoglobin levels were at 1.7, when she should have had a level of 12. As the lowest haemoglobin level the hospital had seen, the girl required four blood transfusions.
The girl’s six-year-old sister also had lice.
Both girls were placed in the care of their maternal grandparents in April, according to court records. Their grandmother told police that she tried to take care of the lice with treatments but a pharmacist told her to “take the kids to the hospital”.
Singh’s mother confronted her about the condition her grandchildren were in, and Singh allegedly told her that “she didn’t notice, and that she was in a fog”, court documents state.
Singh appeared for an initial hearing in front of a judge on Friday, who appointed a public defender for her.