A Henrico County judge found enough probable cause to certify second-degree murder and child neglect charges against the parents of a one-month-old girl who was found unresponsive inside a motel room near Richmond International Airport, after a doctor testified that the infant suffered feeding neglect, severe hyperthermia and recent cocaine exposure before her death.
The hearing included testimony from Dr. Robin Foster, a child-abuse expert at VCU Health, who said the baby, identified in court records as L.C., had cocaine in her urine at birth and cocaine in her blood at the time of her death, according to WTVR CBS 6 News Richmond. Dr. Foster testified that the cocaine detected at the time of death suggested acute or recent exposure, and that cocaine, the baby's sleep environment, feeding and other factors all contributed to her death. She also testified that the feeding neglect and other conditions were a direct result of neglect in the month leading up to the child's death, according to 29News.
Officers with the Henrico County Police Division were called to the Motel 6 on Williamsburg Road at about 1 p.m. on June 29, according to WRIC. Derrick Dwayne Carter told police he had fed the infant a 10-ounce bottle of formula with rice cereal at approximately 1 a.m. that day, and that he woke roughly 12 hours later to find her stiff and not breathing, according to court documents cited by 29News. Babies that age should be fed every two to three hours, the station reported.
Sleep Conditions and a Discarded Bag
Detective testimony described the baby as having slept in a motel bed pushed against an air-conditioning unit, with a pillow wedged between the bed and the wall, and at another point on Carter's arm. Police said a bag discarded by motel roommate Christina Ann Snead contained materials for smoking cocaine that belonged to Carter and the baby's mother, Ashton Marie Leeper, per CBS 6's reporting.
Carter and Leeper both admitted to smoking crack cocaine and tested non-negative for cocaine in urine tests conducted the day L.C. died, the same report from 29News states. The pair also tested positive for cocaine during a Child Protective Services screening, according to WTVR.
Charges and Conflicting Accounts of the Cause of Death
Henrico County Police announced in July that Leeper, 30, and Carter, 47, both of Henrico, were charged with second-degree murder and child neglect in connection with their daughter's June 29 death. Snead, 53, also of Henrico, was charged with accessory after the fact of murder on July 16, while Leeper and Carter were charged on July 18, according to 29News.
Accounts of the medical examiner's findings have shifted over the course of the case. 29News initially reported that the cause and manner of death for L.C. were still pending. Later, on Sept. 30, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to WRIC that L.C. died from cocaine toxicity and that the manner of death was homicide — a finding WTVR also reported following the preliminary hearing.
A Broader Pattern in Virginia's Child Welfare System
The case surfaces amid wider scrutiny of how Virginia's child protective services system handles substance-exposed infants. The state's Office of the Children's Ombudsman was notified by CPS of 10 substance-exposed infants who later died during fiscal year 2025, which ran from July 2024 through June 2025, according to WRIC. Medical professionals are required to report substance-exposed newborns to CPS within 24 hours, the station noted, though Virginia's 120 local CPS departments don't always interpret or implement that policy the same way, Office of the Children's Ombudsman Director Eric Reynolds told the outlet.
The judge said there was enough probable cause to certify all of the charges against the parents, though a preliminary-hearing certification is not a finding of guilt, and the case will next go before a grand jury. Carter, Leeper and Snead are scheduled to return to court on Nov. 24 at 9 a.m. for a status hearing. The allegations against all three remain unproven in court.
