Virginia mother charged after baby died with drugs in system

By The Associated Press
January 16, 2020 | 8:47 AM

SPOTSYLVANIA, Va. (AP) — Authorities in Virginia say a woman has been charged with felony child neglect and endangerment after her baby died with methamphetamines in its system.

The Free Lance-Star reported Thursday that Lurissa Rynea Keyes, 24, of Spotsylvania, is being held in the Rappahannock Regional Jail. It’s unclear if she has a lawyer.

The baby died in June.

Prosecutor Amanda Sweeney said the baby did not have nearly enough drugs in its system to be lethal. But she said enough drugs were in its system to be a factor in the decision to file felony charges.

Va. health dept. improves nursing home inspection backlog, reforms sanction criteria for facilities

By Virginia Mercury
August 22, 2026 | 8:37 PM

Stories of neglect in care or unsanitary living situations have plagued several of Virginia’s nursing home facilities in recent years and data backs up a lapse in oversight by state agencies. With reform efforts underway, the Virginia Department of Health officials said they aim to adopt sanction criteria by the end of the year to rein in bad actors and get troubled facilities back on track. As of July, 58% of Virginia’s nursing homes were overdue for inspections and 68 of Virginia’s 289 nursing homes were found to have serious deficiencies, according to ProPublica. Several of the state’s flagged facilities with numerous deficiencies also had high staffing turnover rates. The issue has been salient among various healthcare spaces, including VDH.

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