A 26-year-old mother is facing child abuse charges after police said she was seen tampering with her infant daughter's intravenous line at a Charlotte hospital.

Around 2:40 a.m. Thursday, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police were called to Carolinas Medical Center to investigate accusations of child abuse against an infant who was hospitalized there.

Police sources told the Observer that hospital staff saw Ladonna Kaye Parlier injecting some sort of substance into her 5-month-old daughter's IV line.

Police said their joint investigation with the Department of Social Services revealed that Parlier had abused her daughter "on several occasions."

Parlier, of Conover, is charged with five counts each of felony child abuse and misdemeanor child neglect. She was being held Thursday in Mecklenburg jail under $137,500 bond.

Police said assistance from staff at CMC was critical in their investigation. Parlier's daughter remains at CMC, where she is in stable condition.