EΛ TA NEA (C) HELLAS XG 2024: Mother forced her two-year-old daughter to drink liquid antihistamine then smothered her to death before pleading with her father for a gun to kill herself

Σάββατο 13 Ιουλίου 2013

Mother forced her two-year-old daughter to drink liquid antihistamine then smothered her to death before pleading with her father for a gun to kill herself

A 24-year-old mother has been accused of murder, after allegedly telling police she gave her two-year-old daughter Benadryl and smothered her, before trying to take her own life.
Leanna Norris 24, was arrested on July 3 after the body her little girl was found in the front seat of her car in Stetson, Maine, on June 23.
Norris pleaded not guilty to murder when she appeared in court, but two documents released by Penobscot County Superior Court state that she confessed to the murder.
According to her affidavit by Detective Thomas Pickering of the Maine State Police, on June 27, the Auburn woman said she gave her daughter Loh Grenda two or three doses of Benadryl, before putting duct tape over her mouth and covering her with a blanket so she 'would not have to look at Loh's eyes'.
'Leanna Norris said that she killed Loh Grenda; that Leanna Norris put her hand over Loh Grenda’s face and suffocated her,' the affidavit said.

Loss: The official cause of death for Loh has not been released

Benadryl is an antihistamine, which can also cause drowsiness.

Denial: Leanna Norris denies murder, but an affidavit claims she told police she suffocated her daughter

Norris, who had been on her way to visit her parents in Stetson, said she killed her daughter by covering the child's face with her hand, then removed the tape 'so it would not look so horrible', according to Portland Press Herald.
After allegedly killing her child, Norris told police she drove to a cemetery in Stetson, where she took Advil in an attempt to take her own life.

But, after vomiting, the 24-year-old allegedly called her father, Steven Norris, and then drove to his house.

Mr Norris told detectives his daughter had called at 2.47am telling him 'she killed her baby and wanted to die', according to the document.

Denial: Leanna Norris denies murder, but an affidavit claims she told police she suffocated her daughter

Loss: The official cause of death for Loh has not been released

He told detectives that when she arrived at his home, he found his granddaughter dead under a blanket, and said his daughter begged him for a gun so she could kill herself.

When police arrived they found the body of the child in a car and a note on the dashboard, but police have not said what it contained, BDN Maine reported.

Norris was taken to hospital where she stayed until her arrest. Police have released few details on the case. The official cause of death for Loh has not yet been released.

The investigation was presented to a grand jury, whose deliberations are secret, on June 26, and she was indicted.

The chief medical examiner’s office has said the manner of Loh's death is pending, but it is a homicide, according to BDN Maine.