UNION COUNTY, NC — One month after 14-month old Kaiden Lee-Welch was swept from his mother’s grasp in Hurricane Florence flood waters in Union County after their car floated off the road, his mother now faces criminal charges for his death.

He was among at least 42 people who were killed in the September storm that parked itself over the Carolinas for days, dumping trillions of gallons of rain that caused epic flooding.

Kaiden’s mother, Dazia Lee of Charlotte, drove around the barricades on N.C. 218 and continued traveling east until her vehicle encountered rushing water flowing across the road, the sheriff’s office said on Facebook. Her vehicle left the road and came to rest in a group of trees. She freed herself and Kaiden, who was in a car seat. But she lost her grip on him in the flood waters, authorities said.

Lee told television station WCNC that she saw motorists driving on a closed road and barricades had been pushed aside, so she thought it was safe to enter the highway near New Salem.

It wasn’t, and that split-second decision has forever changed the young mother’s life.

Click Here: COLLINGWOOD MAGPIES 2019

Rains had sent the normally lazy Richardson Creek 10 feet out of its banks, swallowing the road and an adjacent soybean field. The powerful current swept her Hyundai off the road, across the field and into trees. Water quickly overtaking the vehicle, Lee was able to free herself and Kaiden and tried to get to dry ground.

She can’t swim and struggled to keep her head above water before she was plucked from the raging monster of a creek, the Charlotte Observer reported.

“I was holding his hand, trying to hold him, trying to pull him up. And it got to the point I couldn’t hold on anymore — and he let go,” Lee told television station WJZY. “I did everything I could from the moment I was pregnant to the moment I lost him. I did everything I could as a parent to save him and protect him.”

Monday, Union County authorities said they were pressing charges against her.

“After an exhaustive investigation, Union County Sheriff’s detectives have filed criminal charges against a Charlotte mother for driving around barricades on NC 218 that resulted in the tragic drowning death of her one year old son last month,” the sheriff’s office said in a Oct. 29 statement.

Dazia Ideah Lee, 20, now faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and a misdemeanor charge of driving on a closed/unopened highway in connection with the death of her son.

According to the UCSO, she was served with a criminal summons and is due in court Nov. 20.

“The tragic death of this child and the circumstances surrounding this case are heartbreaking,” Union County Sheriff Eddie Cathey said in a statement. “We continue to pray for all those suffering as a result of this child’s death. However, after a very thorough investigation and taking all facts into consideration and applying the law, we feel that these charges are appropriate.”

RELATED:

Patch Editors Daniel Hampton and Beth Dalbey contributed.

Photo credit: Union County Sheriff’s Office