Mother Charged In Death Of Toddler Swept Away By Flood Waters In Union County

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Detectives in Union County say they filed criminal charges against a mother for driving around barricades on NC 218 during Hurricane Florence that resulted in the tragic drowning death of her one-year-old son last month.

Dazia Lee, 20, of Charlotte has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of driving on a closed/unopened highway.  Lee’s son, Kaiden Lee-Welch, died after being swept away by rushing flood waters in Union County.

Lee was served with a criminal summons and is due in court on November 20th.

Read the original story below for more details.

Original Story (Posted Sept. 18, 2018):

UNION COUNTY, NC. — A Charlotte mother is in shock, grieving the loss of her toddler. The body of a one-year-old Kaiden Lee-Welch was found in Union County Monday morning after being swept away by rushing flood waters.

WCCB spoke with Kaiden’s mother, as she describe what happened moments before the accident.

Dazia Lee was driving down N.C. 218 in Marshville to Wadesboro to visit family. When the Union County Sheriff says she drove around barricades.

“Just all of a sudden my car just hydroplaned into the water,” says Dazia.

“When she hit the water, water forced her off the road and across an open field,” says Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey.

The rushing flood waters pushed her car into a group of  trees, near an overflowing Richardson Creek, where there was ten feet of water.

Deputies say Dazia managed to get Kaiden out of his car seat, but lost her grip on him.

Rescue teams were able to quickly save Dazia, but multiple agencies spent Sunday night searching by boat, combing through woods and on land for any sign of the toddler.

Monday morning a tragic discovery:

“The child was actually found today between the bumper of the vehicle and the tree,” says Joseph Zahralban with Florida Task Force.

Dazia telling WCCB she did everything she could to save her baby, “Just feel lost. Because he was my only one, child. So I really do feel like he’s gone. ”

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