Manslaughter charge sought for woman in death of son due to exposure

By Kelly P. Kissel
Associated Press

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) - An Arkansas woman was charged Tuesday with manslaughter in the death of her 10-month-old son after investigators said she and her husband took the boy into a rugged part of the Ouachita Mountains while having drug-induced hallucinations about being chased.

Brooke Sueann Floyd, 21, of Greenwood, surrendered to Yell County officers Tuesday and went free under terms of a $50,000 bond posted on a previous child endangerment charge. She is due in a Danville, Arkansas, court Thursday.

The child, Harper, and Floyd's husband, 33-year-old Brian Floyd, were found dead last week after a four-day search in an area about 80 miles west of Little Rock. Deputies said they suspected something was amiss when Brooke Floyd emerged from heavy brush and reported the pair missing but didn't tell searchers where they might be.

"I asked her if she was taking any medication because she appeared to be hallucinating many of the events she described," sheriff's Capt. John Foster Jr. wrote in an affidavit. She said the woman told him she had recently used methamphetamine and an anti-seizure medication.

Preliminary autopsy reports said the child died of "exposure and abandonment." The cause of the husband's death was awaiting toxicology results.

Published: Thu, Aug 07, 2014