After authorities in Maine discovered a woman’s 3-year-old kid and the family dog dead inside a locked car, she was charged with manslaughter. Kelly Brown, the mother, told authorities she fell into a river while removing trash.
According to Maine State Police (MSP), on the evening of August 9, Brown’s vehicle was discovered by the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office (PSCO) outside a Milford, Maine, business. Officers found her daughter deceased inside. A 40-year-old Pennsylvanian named Brown was discovered close by.
Around five in the morning, Brown was taken into custody and checked into the Penobscot County Jail. She was charged with manslaughter on August 11 at a court hearing held at Penobscot Judicial Center.
In court documents that Boston.com, WCHS, and WABI were able to get, Brown admitted to police that she had left her kid in the car while she was picking up trash. She said she was washed away after falling into the Penobscot River.
A request for confirmation from PEOPLE on August 17 was not immediately answered by an MSP representative. Additionally, there was no information about Brown’s attorney.
According to court documents, Brown parked her car with her daughter and their dog inside a Milford Freshies parking lot at around two in the morning on August 9. According to WABI, she made a brief appearance at 6 a.m. but did not return until around 14 hours later, when police and EMS arrived.
On July 30, Brown, her daughter Fiona, and their 13-year-old dog Penelope departed Pennsylvania to travel to Maine as a family. Brown’s mother claimed that since late July, she had been posting unsettling videos on Facebook and experiencing hallucinations, according to Boston.com.
During their journey, the family had been camping at rest sites. Brown informed the police that she wished to educate her daughter the value of protecting the environment. When she last left Fiona and the dog in the car, she said they were both still alive. Boston.com reports that she reiterated that she slipped into the river and fought to keep afloat.
According to Boston.com, police later discovered Fiona’s body face down on the driver’s side seat, with the dog’s head resting on her foot.
According to WABI, Brown’s family had previously called the police to report her acting suspiciously and claiming to be seeing ghosts.
When informed of the fatalities, Brown shouted, according to the document Boston.com was able to get. Although security evidence refuted her account of falling into the river, police did observe that she had cuts and bruises. When she got back to the car, officers noted that her clothes were dry.
According to the affidavit, Kelly Brown’s other justification for leaving her kid and dog in the locked car on a sweltering August day runs counter to the security footage and the law enforcement officers’ views when she arrived on the site and was subsequently questioned.
Brown’s bond was set at $50,000 by the judge, according to WABI and WCHS.
According to WCHS, the Augusta Office of Chief Medical Examiner concluded that Fiona’s death was most likely caused by heat exposure from spending hours in the sweltering automobile.
When Brown’s case is brought before a grand jury on September 26, the judge and attorneys decided to get together again, according to WCHS.
