A mother in Washington has been charged with manslaughter for allegedly delaying life-saving medical care for her diabetic child.
Lloydina McAllister’s 10-year-old daughter, who had Type 1 diabetes, slipped into a coma on a summer road trip with her family, according to news reports.
The child, identified in documents only as T.G., was dead by the time she arrived at the hospital. Investigators believe she died of prolonged diabetic ketoacidosis, or DKA.
Prosecutors allege that McAllister, 42, “failed to provide life-saving care for her child, despite substantial education and training on the life-threatening risks of prolonged periods of high blood sugar when a child has Type 1 Diabetes.”
McAllister was arrested on Nov. 4 after an investigation by the police department in Kirkland, Wash.
She pleaded not guilty during her arraignment and is being held on $1 million bail at the King County Correctional Facility, Newsweek reported.
Police began their investigation when the child was brought to a hospital in Tacoma in July.
According to the charging document, McAllister, the girl, her siblings and her mother’s boyfriend left home on July 17 for the Oregon-California border. On the previous day, the girl’s insulin pump began displaying “high” blood glucose levels, and she was reportedly vomiting, a symptom of DKA.
The onset of DKA is severe and sudden, and experts say vomiting is a sign that the condition is progressing rapidly.
The family traveled to Northern California before turning around and beginning the 714-mile drive to bring the girl to a Tacoma hospital.
On the morning of July 18, McAllister allegedly texted her mother, who works at Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital in Tacoma, “I’m bring [the girl] in she is DKA we was on way to California but she was taking her pump out.”
For diabetics who use an insulin pump, a disconnected tube can prevent insulin from getting into the body, triggering DKA.
When the girl was brought to the hospital later that afternoon, she had allegedly been dead in the backseat for several hours.
“Rigor mortis had set in, and her body was stiff, indicating [the girl] had been dead for several hours in the back seat of the car, alongside her older sister and younger brother,” the charging document stated.
According to the same document, during the nine-hour return trip to Tacoma, her mother failed to call 911 and passed more than two dozen hospitals.
When questioned by police, the mother allegedly said that she did not seek these potentially life-saving interventions because, per her parenting agreement with the child’s father, she was not allowed to take the girl out of state.
“She stated she did not know what the consequences would be if [the girl’s] father was notified that she took [the girl] out of the state without permission,” the probable cause filing stated.
The mother also reportedly told police that her daughter forgot to bring her ketone test kit on the trip.
Elevated ketones are a telltale sign of DKA, a life-threatening complication that affects diabetics and requires immediate medical attention.
DKA happens when the body has insufficient insulin. The body requires insulin to convert glucose into energy.
When insulin levels are depleted, the liver begins breaking down body fat to use for energy, a process that releases ketones into the bloodstream.
An elevated number of ketones turns the blood acidic and triggers dehydration. Without treatment, DKA is fatal.
The child, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2018, had been hospitalized for DKA several times. During her most recent hospitalization, in May of this year, McAllister reportedly received retraining from medical staff on the life-threatening nature of DKA and instructions on how to use the insulin pump.
“This was a complex and emotionally challenging investigation,” Kirkland Police Chief Mike St. Jean said in a statement.
“The collaboration between our detectives, medical professionals and prosecutors was essential in bringing clarity to what happened,” the statement continued. “We remain committed to protecting our community’s most vulnerable residents, especially children who cannot advocate for themselves.”
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