Overview
- Laura Nicholson, 23, was arrested Monday in Lee County, Florida, after Harris County detectives charged her with two counts of injury to a child.
- The sisters, ages 2 and 3, were found unresponsive in the backyard pool on Feb. 11 at the family’s Katy home and later died at a hospital.
- Autopsies detected cocaine and a cocaine metabolite in both children, and investigators have not determined how the drug entered their systems.
- The medical examiner could not confirm drowning as the cause of death, and court records cite a broken back-door latch, poor pool safeguards, and the mother asleep on the couch as hazards.
- CPS had previously questioned Nicholson over drug allegations, and experts say even tiny amounts of cocaine can endanger toddlers, findings that could shape the ongoing criminal case and safety reviews.