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Young Mom Leaves 6-Month-Old Son Alone for Two Days With No Food or A.C. to Smoke Weed With Friends

Lovily K. Johnson's infant died in her hot apartment while strapped into a car seat.

A 22-year-old mother in Michigan has been arrested and charged with murder for the death of her infant who was allegedly strapped in a car seat in her apartment for days without food.

Lovily K. Johnson has been charged with felony murder and first-degree child abuse in the death of six-month-old Noah Edward Johnson, according to the Detroit Free Press.

District Court Judge Steven M. Timmers of Wyoming, Michigan, ordered Johnson held without bond and, if she is convicted of the felony charges, could face mandatory life in prison.

Lovily Johnson admitted to investigators that she left Noah alone for about 12 hours on July 17. According to court records, she fed him a bottle in the morning but did not change his diaper. She also hung out with friends in that time and smoked marijuana.

On July 18, she left her home for eight hours and did not check on her son when she finally returned. Then she left again on July 19 to run several errands, stopping at Family Fare, a gas station and a bank.

“She returned home that afternoon, checked on Noah and found him unresponsive. Ms. Johnson contacted her father for a ride to the hospital. She did not call 911,” wrote an investigator in the report.

Instead of calling for emergency help, she asked her father to drive her and Noah to Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital the afternoon of July 19, court records show.

“Upon arrival, Noah was clearly deceased and had been for some time,’’ Wyoming Detective Robert Meredith wrote in a probable cause affidavit. “Johnson... admitted that Noah was under her care and no one else’s care for the last four days.

“Johnson admitted to being at home multiple times a day during that time frame,’’ Meredith wrote. “She knowingly and intentionally deprived him of the necessities of life by not feeding him since Monday evening. During this time, Noah remained buckled in a car seat on the upper floor of Johnson’s apartment with no air conditioning.’’

Johnson, who is on probation for embezzlement, is also the mother of a 2-year-old daughter. The daughter was placed under the supervision of the state Department of Health and Human Services on Friday.

Johnson asked for a court-appointed attorney. She will be back in court for a probable cause hearing on Aug. 2.

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