A 34-year-old mother was charged Friday with murder in death of her 2-year-old toddler after the girl died in a car with the heater running in West Carson, authorities said Wednesday.
Lacey Mazzarella, of Rancho Palos Verdes, was arrested earlier this week, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said. She faces a count of murder and a count of child neglect resulting in death.
She pleaded not guilty in court Friday.
The toddler's mother told law enforcement Monday that she had secured her sleeping daughter Sept. 22 in a child safety seat and turned on the heater and rolled up the windows because it was chilly, according to a copy of the coroner's report provided by a member of the father's family.
The mother said she was drinking with a friend in an adjacent car, but fell asleep, and it was several hours before she awakened at 5 a.m. and found her daughter overheated and unresponsive, investigators said. The mother said she attempted to revive the toddler with a stream of water from a garden hose, according to the account in the report.
When deputies arrived, the 2-year-old was unresponsive.
The mother stayed at the scene and was interviewed, along with several witnesses.
It was not immediately clear whether Mazzarella has an attorney. Family members declined a request to speak on camera.
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