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An Illinois mother was charged with involuntary manslaughter Thursday after allegedly failing to treat her 14-year-old daughter's diabetes for five years. Emily Ikue-Rose Hampshire died Nov. 3 from diabetic ketoacidosis.



Her mother, 39-year-old Amber Hampshire, turned herself in to the Alton Police Department and is currently being held in lieu of $100,000 bond.



“It’s so unusual and sad and a completely preventable death,” Madison County State’s Attorney Thomas D. Gibbons told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “There were plenty of doctors along the way providing information on what to do with a treatable, manageable illness that many people live out their lives with.”



Diabetic ketoacidosis is a complication of diabetes — often triggered by lack of treatment — that can prove fatal. Lack of insulin leads to high blood sugar and a buildup of acidic ketones in the blood.



Gibbons said police investigators believe Amber Hampshire told no one about her daughter's illness, not even her husband, Emily's father, who frequently traveled for work.



“The charges allege that she unintentionally killed her daughter by committing acts which were likely to cause death or great bodily harm,” Gibbons said. “The investigation indicates very strongly that the defendant took repeated, substantial steps to conceal the disease from everyone around her.”



Alton Police Department

According to affidavits and medical records obtained by the Alton Telegraph, Emily was first diagnosed with diabetes in November 2013 at St. Louis Children's Hospital, and she and her mother were informed of the diagnosis and given instructions for management.



In February, she was admitted to the same hospital with pneumonia and diabetic ketoacidosis and prescribed insulin as "routine medicine" before she was released. The hospital reportedly provided Emily and her mother with "extensive education" on her dietary and medical needs and scheduled three follow-up appointments. However, she allegedly never returned for those appointments and there is "no known evidence" that the insulin prescription was ever filled.



In addition to allegedly concealing her daughter's diabetes, authorities said that Hampshire lied to Emily's school about her diagnosis after the first hospital visit. A child protective services investigator told the Alton Telegraph that the Evangelical United Church school received a notification of a medical plan for accommodating Emily's diabetes in February. However, Hampshire, an employee at the school, told the administration that the diagnosis was incorrect and the notification had been sent in error.



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