A 42-year-old Washington woman has been charged with first-degree manslaughter after allegedly failing to seek urgent medical help for her 10-year-old daughter, who was living with type 1 diabetes and died during a family road trip in July.
According to Kirkland police, the girl fell into a coma and suffered long-term diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) while traveling with her mother, siblings and her boyfriend.
Despite hours of warning signs, including vomiting and persistently high blood sugar readings from his insulin pump, authorities say the mother delayed taking the boy to the hospital.
Police said the investigation began when the mother took the unconscious girl to a Tacoma hospital on July 18.
Court documents reveal that the boy had likely been dead for several hours before arriving, with rigor mortis already visible.
Detectives later determined that during the nine-hour drive from Northern California to Washington, the mother passed by more than two dozen hospitals without stopping or calling 911.
Prosecutors allege that the mother, identified as Lloydina McAllister, had extensive training in managing her daughter’s condition. The boy had been diagnosed in 2018 and had a history of severe episodes of DKA. After a recent hospitalization in May, medical staff reportedly retrained McAllister on the dangers of untreated high blood sugar and proper insulin pump use.
In his interview with investigators, McAllister allegedly admitted that he did not call emergency services or visit a closer facility because he feared violating a custody agreement that restricted taking the child out of state without the father’s permission.
He reportedly texted his own mother, a staff member at a Tacoma children’s hospital, telling her he was bringing the girl because she had DKA.
The girl, whose name has not been released, was found dead in the back seat of the car along with her siblings.
McAllister pleaded not guilty and was held on $1 million bail. His trial is scheduled for the end of December.
Kirkland Police Chief Mike St. Jean described the case as “complex and emotionally challenging,” noting that close cooperation between detectives, medical teams and prosecutors helped clarify the events that led to the girl’s death. He reaffirmed the department’s commitment to protecting vulnerable children who cannot advocate for themselves.
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