6-Year-Old's Mom Faces Homicide, Drug Charges

Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore announced that a 3-count indictment was unsealed today against Kathleen Dymes, 52, charging her with:

• one count of Criminally Negligent Homicide, a class “E” Felony,
• one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, a class “A” Misdemeanor,
• one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, a class “A” Misdemeanor,

relating to the death of her 6-year-old daughter, Lacey Carr, on Easter Sunday 2015.

“As alleged in the indictment, this defendant failed in her most basic role as a mother and caregiver: to ensure the safety and well-being of her child. As a former nurse, she could know only too well the dosage and interactions of the drugs her daughter had ingested that lead to her death,” DiFiore said.

At about 1:09 p.m. April 5, the Croton-on-Hudson Police Department received a 911 call from David Carr, the father of the victim, requesting that police respond to 144 Hastings Avenue in the village, and reporting that his daughter was cold and not breathing.

SEE:

• Child Dead, Mother Hospitalized in Croton
• School Officials Reach Out to Community
• Visiting Hours for Lacey Carr

Upon arrival at the scene, police and medical personnel entered the residence and went to the second floor where they discovered the body of Lacey Carr lying on the bed unresponsive and not breathing.

Lacey was placed on the floor and CPR was performed.

Additional personnel arrived on scene and since the child was being treated, they tended to the mother, Kathleen Dymes who was in a kneeling position at the side of the bed on the floor. She, too, was unresponsive.

Lacey Carr was pronounced dead at 1:27 p.m. Both the mother and the child’s body were then taken to Phelps Memorial Hospital.

Croton police initiated an investigation. Later that day, a search warrant was executed and in the second floor bedroom, where the body of Lacey Carr was discovered, police observed an open bottle of alcohol along with various and numerous over the counter, prescription and illegal drugs strewn about the room.

In addition, two handwritten notes were recovered from the bedroom.

Kathleen Dymes is currently in a rehabilitation facility.

Bail was set at $25,000 cash or bond.

The defendant’s next appearance will be on Sept. 29. She faces a maximum sentence of four years in prison if convicted of the charges.

Assistant District Attorney Doreen Lloyd, Chief of the Child Abuse Bureau, and Assistant District Attorney Owein Levin of the Child Abuse Bureau are prosecuting the case.