A Michigan woman who drowned her 50-day-old daughter five years earlier is facing murder charges following the death of her second infant daughter.
According to UpNorthLive.com, Lisa Bryan, 32, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the November 1, 2016, death of her daughter, Isabella Powrozek. Court documents obtained by the publication indicated that Bryan had changed her story multiple times but had admitted to sleeping with her daughter on her chest.
Powrozek was reportedly born October 6, 2016, with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome, more commonly known as narcotic withdrawal, UpNorthLive.com reports.
Hospital staff alerted police to an infant dying under suspicious circumstances, sparking a yearlong investigation that concluded with Bryan’s arrest. The medical examiner listed her cause of death as asphyxiation.
“Unfortunately, a young infant was tragically killed and what will happen now is it will be up to the judicial system to determine the outcome of this case,” Emmet County Sheriff Peter Wallin said, according to UpNorthLive.
Alarmingly, this is the second time the 32-year-old was charged in connection with her child’s death. According to 9&10 News, Bryan, then known as Lisa Zillman, was convicted in 2011 for the drowning death of her 2-month-old daughter, Hannah.
Though she was sentenced to four years for second-degree manslaughter, reports showed that she served a little more than a year in prison.
Court documents obtained by the news station also indicated that the girls’ deaths have striking similarities. Police suspect that both infants died due to their mother’s negligence: Bryan allegedly told police that she was “careless” and taking Suboxone, a narcotic pain reliever, at the time of Isabella’s death; she also claimed she was on drugs when Hannah drowned.
Bryan is charged with second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter, and obstruction of justice. She is due back in court on January 24.
She faces life in prison if convicted.
[Featured Image: Lisa Rae Bryan/Emmet County Sheriff’s Office]
