Warrants Detail Neglect Allegations in Child's Death

Warrant information provided by Goose Creek Police lays out the case for charges of unlawful neglect of a child in the death of an 8-year-old girl Sept. 13 due to her asthma. 

Harmony Lee McAmis and Joshua Richard Mashburn were arrested in February following a months-long investigation into the death of Jillyn McAmis. They are currently being held at the Hill-Finklea Detention Center, each with a $50,000 bond.

Police have accused the couple of knowingly putting the girl in harms way by failing to provide proper care for her chronic asthma.

According to warrants, Jillyn told her mother on Sept. 11 that she was having difficulty breathing. Police say Harmony McAmis should have made the girl use an inhaler. Police also claim that Harmony McAmis and Mashburn made no attempt to provide a rescue inhaler or restart breathing after finding Jillyn blue and unresponsive.

And investigators question the couple's judgement in driving past the EMS station on Brandywine and Nason Medical Center to bring the girl to Trident Medical Center.

The police also point out that the school was never notified of the girl's asthma and wasn't provided with an emergency inhaler in case of an asthma attack at school.

The Post and Courier spoke with Joshua Mashburn's sister-in-law, Vanessa Mashburn.

"If they had believed something was wrong, they would have done something," Vanessa Mashburn said Wednesday. "They wouldn't have let her die of an asthma attack. I do know that in my heart."

Reporter Allyson Byrd also looks at the couple's history with the police and the Department of Social Services.

were reported earlier this week by Live 5 News.