A Farmerville woman was arrested Wednesday following an investigation into the August death of a 6-year-old child in Union Parish.
Bryanica Houston Loud, 29, was taken into custody in Lincoln Parish more than a month after the Union Parish Sheriff’s Office began investigating the child’s death.
On Aug. 28, UPSO began an investigation after the child was transported to Union General Hospital following a medical emergency. The child was later pronounced dead. Loud was identified during the investigation as the child’s foster mother.
UPSO investigators worked the case with the Union Parish Coroner’s Office and the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services, collecting evidence and conducting multiple interviews. The child’s autopsy determined methamphetamine intoxication was the cause of death.
During the investigation, investigators learned Loud said methamphetamine had been left on a table and was knocked to the floor when the child pulled on the tablecloth. The child was then able to access and ingest it.
Based on the findings of the investigation, an arrest warrant was obtained for Loud. She was located and arrested Wednesday in Lincoln Parish with the assistance of the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Loud was booked into the Union Parish Detention Center on charges of negligent homicide and second-degree cruelty to juveniles. Bail was set at $650,000 by a Third Judicial District judge.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
