Inset: Brittany Stroud (Pickaway County Sheriff's Office). Background: The area in Ohio where Stroud's 17-month-old daughter died (Google Maps).
A 30-year-old mother in Ohio is charged in the death of her 17-month-old daughter after she told a 911 dispatcher the toddler was "purple," declined to perform CPR and fled in her red Jeep Compass.
Brittany Stroud is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and possession of drugs in connection with the fatal incident, authorities announced.
Brittany Stroud's mother, Tammy Stroud, is also charged with complicity to involuntary manslaughter, complicity to child endangerment and complicity to possession of drugs.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, deputies with the Pickaway County Sheriff's Office and paramedics responded to a residence in the 7800 block of High Street at about 11:14 a.m. on Oct. 13, 2026, for a report of a toddler not breathing.
On the 911 call, a distraught Brittany Stroud can be heard telling the dispatcher that her 1-year-old daughter "is dead." When the dispatcher asks if Brittany Stroud knows CPR, the mother responds by "stating it was beyond that point," the affidavit says.
"We're past that," she tells the dispatcher on the call. "She's purple. Oh my God."
Another child can be heard crying in the background and asking what is happening. Brittany Stroud also states that she had checked on the toddler earlier that morning, noting that she had been "laying with her face flat in the bed."
A medic told a responding officer that the girl was found not breathing on a mattress in a rear bedroom. Emergency responders began CPR and transported her to Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, where she was pronounced dead.
The affidavit says the child spent much of the previous evening on the living room floor while family members were home. Tammy Stroud, who had legal custody of the child under a court order, told investigators she went to bed while the girl remained on the floor. She said the child was still on the living room floor when she left for work at about 6 a.m. the next morning.
At some point after Tammy Stroud left, the child was moved to a bedroom, authorities said. Brittany Stroud said she checked on her daughter at about 7:30 a.m. and heard her snoring before going back to sleep. She woke again around 11 a.m. and found the child not breathing.
"[The toddler] was reported to have been sleeping on her knees with her face partially pushed into the mattress that possibly restricted her oxygen intake," the affidavit says.
Brittany Stroud turned the child onto her back and ran from the room to call 911. The affidavit states that she declined to attempt CPR on the child.
An autopsy performed Oct. 14 at the Franklin County Coroner's Office found a lethal amount of fentanyl in the child's system, according to the sheriff's office.
After searching the home, authorities obtained arrest warrants for Brittany and Tammy Stroud on Oct. 16.
Tammy Stroud surrendered to authorities Oct. 18 and pleaded not guilty at her arraignment the following day. She is being held in the Pickaway County jail on a $250,000 bond.
The sheriff's office reported that Brittany Stroud's arrest warrant remained outstanding. She was last seen driving a red Jeep Compass and is known to frequent the Columbus and Franklin County areas.