A lady from York County has been accused of felony murder following the death of an 11-month-old child in her care inside a hot car, five months later.
Kristen Danielle Graham, 40, from the Seaford region of York County, surrendered at Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail on Thursday, Feb. 22, as reported by the York-Poquoson Sheriff’s Office. She was issued a warrant for criminal murder and is currently detained in jail without bail.
Graham was arrested and charged with felony child negligence on Tuesday, Sept. 12, the same day that 11-month-old Myrical Wicker was discovered deceased in a black plastic bag in the back of a car by emergency department staff at Mary Immaculate Hospital in Newport News.
It was found that the infant had been under Graham’s care, who would look after her for weeks at a time. At approximately 1 a.m. on the day the child died, Graham was requested by a friend to deliver smokes. She drove her companion, along with a little dog, to a 7-Eleven.
Graham visited a friend’s home in Newport News after buying cigarettes and apple juice from the store, where she stayed for an unspecified amount of time, as stated by York-Poquoson Sheriff Ron Montgomery.
Graham returned to her residence at approximately 8 a.m. on Seaford Road in the Seaford region. She closed the car windows and entered her home, leaving the child and dog inside the vehicle. Graham dozed off indoors until approximately 2:30 p.m., when she was roused by a phone call.
At that point, both the child and the dog had passed away. The infant was taken indoors, placed in a black plastic bag, and transported to Mary Immaculate Hospital. Graham faced charges of criminal child negligence and felony animal abuse, specifically for the dog’s death.
Montgomery stated that based on the postmortem results, there was a strong likelihood of upgrading the child abuse allegation to homicide following Graham’s arrest in September.