More than two months after a 6-year-old Oklahoma girl died of complication from asthma, authorities say her great-grandmother and aunt have been arrested on suspicion of child neglect.
According to KFOR, the unidentified girl was in the custody of her relatives — 82-year-old Vanuda Lee Holloman and 60-year-old Meta Cruikshank Hudspeth — when she was rushed to the hospital on December 7. The girl was pronounced dead at OU Children’s Hospital two days later.
She reportedly experienced difficulty breathing while at school and staff could not reach her primary guardian, listed as Hudspeth. After reaching Holloman, she informed them that she did not have transportation to pick up the child.
Two school officials ultimately drove the girl to her home where he condition deteriorated to the point that emergency personnel responded later the same evening and found her unresponsive.
Del City Police Capt. Bradley Rule said lack of proper care directly led to the girl’s death.
“If her caregivers would have intervened and provided medical attention, then we very well wouldn’t be here right now,” he said.
Compounding the tragedy, he said, is the fact that both Holloman and Hudspeth had been “former certified nursing assistants.”
Both women were arrested on Wednesday and booked into the Oklahoma County Jail. They are expected to face criminal charges of child neglect.
“During the investigation it was learned that the grandmother and the aunt stated that they didn’t seek medical attention because they didn’t have they money, nor did they have insurance to have the child treated,” according to Rule.
He called it a “total tragedy that shouldn’t have happened.”
Hudspeth was locked up with bond set at $20,000; Holloman’s bond was $2,000.
[Featured images: Vanuda Lee Holloman and Meta Cruikshank Hudspeth, handout]