Mom charged in death of 4-year-old bedridden daughter - KFVS12 News & Weather Cape Girardeau, Carbondale, Poplar Bluff

Mom charged in death of 4-year-old bedridden daughter

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ST. JOSEPH, MO (KCTV) -

A mother has been charged in the death of her bedridden 4-year-old daughter who suffered from cerebral palsy.

Alexandra Thurman Laureen Schurr is in jail, charged with her daughter's death. Amber Elizabeth Mosier was bedridden with cerebral palsy. Buchanan County prosecutors said Schurr didn't check on her for nearly an entire day before she was found dead.

Prosecutors charged Schurr with involuntary manslaughter for the death of her daughter. Court documents show that, between Oct. 9 and Oct. 10, Schurr did not check on her daughter, who suffered from cerebral palsy for over 20 hours.

"She had heard the child vomiting and failed to go back and check on the little girl and, with the child's condition, she was unable to care for herself," said Capt. Matt Rock with the St. Joseph Police Department.

Police found Amber dead on Oct. 10 in her bed. They were called to the home about 5:30 p.m.

In severe cases of cerebral palsy, some children require a feeding tube. The autopsy report revealed that Amber suffocated because her airway was obstructed, possibly by her own vomit.

Prosecutors said Schurr also failed to give Amber her medicine for several days and left the child unattended.

"I don't know her whereabouts for that 20-hour period," Rock said.

A KCTV5 crew went by the home on South 36th Place, just off of South 36th Street, but no one answered. Neighbors said they saw Schurr frequently take the child and her other older daughter outside for afternoon walks and were surprised to hear of the charges.

KCTV5's Heather Staggers also reached out to the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Northwest Missouri in St. Joseph to ask them about caring for a child with a severe disability, but they did not want to speak with her.

A doctor from a national cerebral palsy organization said it's not uncommon for deaths to happen with feeding tubes. Children often die in their sleep from airway obstruction.

The mother, Schurr, is being held at the Buchanan County Law Enforcement Center on a $50,000 bond.

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