Mom Arrested in Daughter's Gangrene Death

The mother of a disabled Tennessee girl who died from gangrene and infected bedsores has been arrested in New Orleans. The US Marshals Service says Raven Ruth is being held in the Orleans Parish Jail after her arrest yesterday. Ruth is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of her 12-year-old daughter Andrea Ruth. The girl's father, Errol Johnson, and health care worker Chasara Jones also are charged with murder in the girl's death.

The Millington, Tenn., girl died in November 2012. Officials say an autopsy revealed she died from sepsis from gangrene. Authorities are describing it as one of the worst child-neglect cases police have ever seen in Tennessee. Andrea suffered from asthma, obesity, and high blood pressure, and her legs had gotten so bad that doctors scheduled her to have both amputated in May 2011, but the family never showed up, reports the Tennessean. (More Raven Ruth stories.)