22-year-old Melissa Barnes of Hillsborough County, Florida, was apprehended in early June after detectives say that she fed her 1-year-old bleach inside of a baby bottle.
Barnes is facing charges of child abuse and child neglect.
Back in January, a concerned relative disclosed to officials that Barnes had given her 13-month-old daughter a bottle that had bleach in it. They added that they had discovered Barnes and the child residing in a “cold, cluttered, and unsanitary” shed.
Detectives say that when the relative attempted to feed the child with the bottle, the 1-year-old would not use it. That’s when the relative saw that there was bleach inside of the bottle.
When questioned, Barnes said that she used the bleach to rinse out the bottle.
As they were investigating, authorities say that they discovered bleach-based disinfectant and paint inside of the shed. When an FBI lab test was conducted later, it showed that the baby bottle had chlorine-based bleach.
Barnes was placed in custody as an investigation is continuing.
Smdh