Mom ignored 7-year-old daughter's severe meningitis symptoms until she died, said she just needed fresh air: Police

Inset (left): Jerika McNeely (McKenzie County Sheriff's Office). Inset (right): Jerrie Young (Facebook). Background: The McKenzie County Sheriff's Office in Watford City, N.D. (Google Maps).

A North Dakota mother has been charged with manslaughter after police said she failed to get her seriously ill daughter medical attention.

Jerika McNeely, 32, was booked into the McKenzie County Correctional Facility after being charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of her 7-year-old daughter, Jerrie Young. According to the McKenzie County Sheriff's Office, deputies responded to McNeely's home on May 15 after receiving calls about an unresponsive child. Despite lifesaving efforts, the child died.

Following an investigation into the child's death, investigators determined that McNeely allegedly ignored her daughter's increasingly serious symptoms until they became fatal.

According to an arrest affidavit obtained by local NBC affiliate KVLY, the child began showing symptoms of illness on May 10 that became more severe by the day. Police said the girl was unable to sit up or walk and had to be carried around by her mother. When police spoke to McNeely's other children, they said they were very aware that something was wrong with their sister.

Police said at least one of the children told McNeely that their sister should be taken to a hospital. According to the affidavit, McNeely said the girl just needed to be outside to get some fresh air.

McNeely allegedly had access to a phone, a vehicle, and medical facilities near their home but never sought medical attention for her daughter.

After the girl died, the North Dakota Forensic Examiner's Office ruled her cause of death as complications from Streptococcus pneumoniae meningitis. Her manner of death was listed as homicide because her mother had failed to get her daughter the medical care she needed.

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KVLY reported that in the autopsy report, a pediatric infectious disease specialist who was consulted as part of the death investigation said the bacterial infection the girl had was so serious that it was life-threatening and required immediate medical attention.

McNeely was charged on Sunday and posted bond the next day, according to online jail records. She appeared in court on Wednesday and is due back on Nov. 5.