Current status: Derrick Dwayne Carter and Ashton Marie Leeper are charged with second-degree murder and child neglect in the death of their one-month-old daughter, identified in court records as L.C. The Virginia Chief Medical Examiner’s office has identified the cause of death as cocaine toxicity and the manner of death as homicide.

The timeline described in court records

According to the criminal complaint summarized by WTVR, Carter said he fed the infant around 1 a.m. on June 29 and placed her on a bed beside the adults. He said he woke about 12 hours later and found her stiff and not breathing. Police believe the child had been dead for approximately two hours before officers arrived.

Surveillance footage allegedly showed another adult leaving the motel room shortly before police arrived and discarding a bag later said to contain items used for smoking cocaine. That adult, Christina Snead, has been charged as an accessory to murder and is on house arrest with GPS monitoring. WTVR reported that Snead is scheduled to appear in court October 5 at 9 a.m.; Carter and Leeper are expected in court October 26.

Clinical Lens: what “cocaine toxicity” does—and does not—tell us

A toxicology finding can establish exposure and, when interpreted with autopsy findings and case circumstances, can support a medical examiner’s determination that a drug caused or contributed to death. It does not, by itself, identify exactly how the drug entered an infant’s body, who was responsible for the exposure, or whether the exposure was intentional. Those are separate forensic and legal questions.

In an infant, cocaine exposure is medically significant because even small physiologic disruptions can affect the cardiovascular and central nervous systems. But responsible reporting requires the actual toxicology results, specimen type, concentrations, autopsy findings, timing, and differential diagnosis before making claims about mechanism or route of exposure.

Other neglect allegations

Court records summarized by WTVR describe additional concerns raised by a physician, including prolonged sleep without feeding, inappropriate feeding for a one-month-old, unsafe sleep conditions, and drug use in the motel room. Those allegations will need to be tested against the complete medical and investigative record.

What we are tracking

• The full autopsy and toxicology findings.
• The alleged route and timing of cocaine exposure.
• Any statements or forensic testing involving the discarded bag.
• Child-protective-services records and the infant’s prior medical history.
• The October court dates and any preliminary-hearing evidence.

Sources

• WTVR CBS 6 — October 2, 2026

Charges are allegations. Toxicology findings and a homicide manner-of-death determination do not by themselves establish criminal guilt.