Current:Home > Markets3-year-old dies after Georgia woman keeps her kids in freezing woods overnight, police say -ProWealth Academy
3-year-old dies after Georgia woman keeps her kids in freezing woods overnight, police say
View
Date:2025-04-18 01:24:42
A mother is facing charges including murder and child cruelty after Georgia officials said she spent the night in the woods with her two young children on a evening when temperatures dipped below freezing, and one of them died.
Douglas County Sheriff's Office deputies responded just before noon on Jan. 16, to a report of a woman and her two children lost in the woods near Foxhall Resort in the city of Douglasville, about 22 miles west of downtown Atlanta.
With the assistance from Foxhall employees, deputies found the mother and her children, ages 3 and 7, "in a wooden area far from the resort hotel where they were staying," according to a news release from the sheriff's office.
Deputies, who in the release identified the woman as Uriha Ridge, 35, "immediately began to render aid" to Ridge and her two children.
The children, the release continues, "were soaking wet and knew the temperatures had been below freezing throughout the night."
First responders transported Ridge and her children to local hospitals, where they said the 3-year-old died, "due to what is believed to be exposure to the elements."
The low in greater Atlanta on Jan. 16 was 18 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.
Indiana mother sentenced in death case:4-year-old beaten to death over potty training. Mom will now spend 42 years in prison.
A properly charged cell phone and below freezing temp
A preliminary investigation by officials determined Ridge allegedly consumed illicit drugs before and after she entered the woods with her children, "minimally clothed where she spent more than 11 hours in the rain and below-freezing temperatures."
The family entered the woods about 12 a.m. and, according to the release, Ridge did not call for help until the next morning at 11:51 a.m. "despite having a cell phone with a properly charged battery."
"The consumption of illegal drugs is believed to be the root cause" of why Ridge went into the woods with her children, the release continues, leading her 3-year-old child's death and the hospitalization of her 7-year-old.
The condition of the child who survived was not immediately known Thursday.
Man's body found behind false wall:Mississippi mom charged with son's slaying, accused of hiding body, police say
Jailed without bond facing charges including murder
On Jan. 19, Ridge was booked into the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Jail where online records show she remained without bond on multiple felony charges Thursday.
It was not immediately known if Ridge and obtained an attorney.
She was slated to appear in court this week on charges including felony murder, cruelty to children and possession of marijuana, jail records show.
The case remained under investigation Thursday, officials said.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.
veryGood! (68)
Related
- Justice Department, Louisville reach deal after probe prompted by Breonna Taylor killing
- RHOC's Emily Simpson Slams Accusation She Uses Ozempic for Weight Loss
- From searing heat's climbing death toll to storms' raging floodwaters, extreme summer weather not letting up
- Global Methane Pledge Offers Hope on Climate in Lead Up to Glasgow
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Inside Clean Energy: The Rooftop Solar Income Gap Is (Slowly) Shrinking
- Shakira Recalls Being Betrayed by Ex Gerard Piqué While Her Dad Was in ICU
- Stranger Things' Noah Schnapp Shares Glimpse Inside His First Pride Celebration
- Tom Holland's New Venture Revealed
- A timeline of the Carlee Russell case: What happened to the Alabama woman who disappeared for 2 days?
Ranking
- The Daily Money: Spending more on holiday travel?
- The Big D Shocker: See a New Divorcée Make a Surprise Entrance on the Dating Show
- Climate activists target nation's big banks, urging divestment from fossil fuels
- Titanic Actor Lew Palter Dead at 94
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Angela Bassett Is Finally Getting Her Oscar: All the Award-Worthy Details
- Need workers? Why not charter a private jet?
- Concerns Linger Over a Secretive Texas Company That Owns the Largest Share of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline
Recommendation
What do we know about the mysterious drones reported flying over New Jersey?
After It Narrowed the EPA’s Authority, Talks of Expanding the Supreme Court Garner New Support
Los Angeles investigating after trees used for shade by SAG-AFTRA strikers were trimmed by NBCUniversal
An Arizona woman died after her power was cut over a $51 debt. That forced utilities to change
In ‘Nickel Boys,’ striving for a new way to see
The U.S. Naval Academy Plans a Golf Course on a Nature Preserve. One Maryland Congressman Says Not So Fast
Climate activists target nation's big banks, urging divestment from fossil fuels
Inside a bank run