Nearly four months after a 3-year-old girl died, police in NC arrest her mother

A Cherryville mother accused of killing her 3-year-old daughter was arrested in her home on Tuesday.

Jenna Michelle Melton, 26, was charged with involuntary manslaughter in the Jan. 5 death of Anna Lee Tadych, Cherryville police said in a statement.

Police did not say how Anna Lee died nor why it took nearly four months to arrest and charge Melton.

According to a police incident report, officers seized a “shirt with blood stains.” The report did not indicate whose blood was found nor whether the shirt was seized from Melton’s home.

Melton is being held in the Gaston County Jail without bond, according to an arrest report.

This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 2:40 PM.