Mother, Boyfriend Face Abuse Charges In Toddler's Death

GASTON COUNTY, N.C.,None — The mother of a toddler who died last week and the mother's boyfriend have been charged with felony child abuse.

Addison Lanham, 2, died last week.

SLIDESHOW: Photos Of Addison Lanham

Police charged her mother, Shanna Lanham, and her mother's boyfriend, Jason Wells, with felony child abuse.

On the day she died, the toddler was with Wells at a motel on Edgewood Road where she and her mother had been staying. Wells is a convicted sex offender and was also charged with baby-sitting as a sex offender and failing to register the correct address.

Warrants show Addison died when an untreated MRSA infection reached her bloodstream, poisoning her. The toddler also had a broken leg that went untreated, investigators said.

Shanna Lanham did not get her daughter the care she needed, investigators said.

Channel 9 asked police how long the toddler went without the treatment that she needed.

"Several weeks that we know of," said Capt. Jay Human with the Gaston County Police Department.

Shanna Lanham's friend, Donna Phillips, said days before Addison died, she noticed bruises and scratches on the child.

"I kept asking her to let me take her to the hospital or the doctor and she wouldn't," Phillips said.

Lanham cried through most of her bond hearing Wednesday.

"Will I get to go to my daughter's funeral?" she asked the judge.

The judge could not say if she would be able to go.

There will be a public memorial for Addison, and she will buried at Westview Gardens. There's no word yet on when that will take place.

Previous Stories: July 26, 2011: Police Waiting For Autopsy Results In 2-Year-Old's Death July 22, 2011: Police Investigate Death Of 2-Year-Old Girl

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