Summerville woman charged in toddler’s death-UPDATE#1

Summerville Police officers arrested Erica Mae Butts, 23, around 7pm on Tuesday night after receiving a call about an unresponsive 3-year-old girl at a home on Congaree River Drive in the Lakes of Summerville Subdivision. According to Summerville police, EMS transported the little girl to Summerville Medical Center where she was pronounced dead. Police say with the information received during the investigation and an autopsy being performed on the child, Butts is being charged with homicide by child abuse. The toddler is not related to Butts and resides out of state. The girl’s parents were out of town at the time of their daughter’s death.

UPDATE#1 News 2 spoke with Summerville police Wednesday afternoon. They say they were able to easily charge Butts with child abuse and not child neglect due to a number of deliberate marks of the three year old’s body. They also seized several items from Butt’s home. Police would not specify what items were taken.

Police say they are in the extremely early stages of figuring out this case. They say they have not ruled out extra suspects. They also say they are still not sure how long Butts had been taking care of the three year old girl. They say the girls family actually lives out of state.

Butts faces up to 11 years in jail if found guilty