Mother charged after cocaine was found in 2 toddlers who drowned, HCSO says

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ABC13 Houston
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HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A mother has been charged for her alleged involvement in the death of her two daughters in west Harris County after cocaine was found in their blood, according to Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez.

On Friday, 23-year-old Laura Nicholson was charged with two counts of injury to a child, according to HCSO. On Monday, Gonzalez said the Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force found her near Fort Myers, Florida, and arrested her. She is being held at the Lee County Jail.

News of the double drowning rocked the toddlers’ west Harris County neighborhood on February 11th. Deputies responded to the 21000 block of Creek Edge Court, where the sisters, identified in an online obituary as Kelsey and Kinsley, were found in the backyard pool, HCSO said. They were 2 and 3 years old.

According to court records, the autopsy was completed on April 30th. The medical examiner ruled their primary cause of death was “drowning and acute cocaine toxicity.”

Investigators said that Nicholson was asleep when the children were found in the pool. They wrote that she said she was aware that the door latch had been broken and that the girls often got out and ran to the pool.

Records also stated that she was previously questioned by CPS about drug allegations after her mother accused her of using cocaine.

The obituary described the little girls as “beacons of joy” with “laughter that echoed.”

Nicholson is now awaiting extradition to Harris County.

Court records do not mention how investigators believe the cocaine got in the toddlers’ blood.

RELATED: 2 toddlers confirmed dead at hospital after drowning in Katy-area home pool, HCSO says

This story comes from our news partner ABC13 Houston.