Kentucky family mourns 10-month-old Scottie Crowell

Madisonville, Kentucky. — A Kentucky family is mourning the devastating l0ss of 10-month-old Scottie Crowell, after investigators said the baby girl was unintentionally left inside a vehicle for approximately eight hours when her grandmother forgot to take her to daycare before going to work. The incident occurred Thursday, August 13, 2026, in Madisonville.

According to the Madisonville Police Department, Scottie was being cared for that morning by her grandmother, Dr. Stacey Fazenbaker.

Investigators said Fazenbaker was supposed to take her granddaughter to daycare before reporting to work at Owensboro Health Multicare in Madisonville.

Police said Fazenbaker instead drove directly to her workplace and arrived at approximately 8 a.m., apparently forgetting that Scottie was still inside the vehicle.

Investigators have described what happened as an apparent accidental failure to remember the daycare stop, while the circumstances remain under investigation.

For approximately eight hours, nobody realized that Scottie had never arrived at daycare.

The situation was discovered later that afternoon when the baby’s father went to the childcare facility expecting to pick up his daughter and learned that she had not been dropped off that morning.

Scottie’s parents have been identified as Sydni Crowell and Micah Crowell. After learning that their daughter had never arrived at daycare, the family contacted Fazenbaker, triggering the realization that the 10-month-old could still be inside the vehicle parked outside her workplace.

Fazenbaker and several coworkers immediately rushed outside to reach the baby. Madisonville Police Major Jason McKnight said she ran to the vehicle with coworkers after receiving the call, but by that point Scottie was already unresponsive.

Police officers, firefighters and emergency medical personnel were called to the parking lot shortly afterward.

Emergency crews attempted lifesaving measures, but they were unable to revive Scottie, and the infant was pronounced d34d following the hours she had spent inside the vehicle.

Weather conditions have become an important element of the investigation. Temperatures in western Kentucky were high that day, and the interior of a closed vehicle can become considerably hotter than the outside environment within a relatively short period, creating potentially f4t4l conditions for an infant.

Authorities have not yet released a final medical determination establishing Scottie’s precise cause of d34th. An autopsy has already been performed, but investigators said the complete findings could require several weeks while additional laboratory and forensic testing is completed.

The investigation has involved detectives from the Madisonville Police Department as well as Kentucky Child Protective Services.

Child protection personnel participated alongside investigators during interviews and are expected to remain involved while authorities complete their review of what happened.

Investigators also obtained a blood sample from Dr. Stacey Fazenbaker, who consented to the procedure.

Police indicated that they were not expecting the testing to reveal anything significant, but the results remain part of the evidence being collected before authorities determine how the case should proceed.

As of the latest publicly available update, no criminal charges have been filed against Fazenbaker.

That distinction is important because the investigation remains active, and authorities have not announced a final legal determination concerning responsibility for Scottie’s d34th.

Once detectives finish collecting medical reports, laboratory results, witness statements and other evidence, investigators expect the case to be presented to a grand jury.

That process will determine whether the available evidence supports criminal charges and, if so, what charges would be appropriate under Kentucky law.

The case has generated particular attention because investigators currently describe the circumstances as an apparent tragic mistake rather than alleging that the grandmother deliberately left Scottie inside the vehicle.

Any final conclusion about criminal responsibility will therefore depend on the evidence and the decisions made through the judicial process.

For Sydni Crowell and Micah Crowell, however, the legal investigation comes alongside an unimaginable family l0ss.

What began as an ordinary Thursday morning — with their daughter expected to spend the day at daycare — ended approximately eight hours later with emergency responders gathered around a vehicle in Madisonville.

The case has also renewed warnings surrounding children being unintentionally left inside vehicles.

Infants are particularly vulnerable to extreme heat because their bodies can warm significantly faster than those of adults, making prolonged exposure inside a hot vehicle especially dangerous.

Authorities continue to await the final autopsy and toxicology findings before completing the investigative file.

Until those results are available and the grand jury considers the evidence, officials have cautioned against assuming what legal consequences, if any, will follow.

For now, the names at the center of the case are Scottie Crowell, her parents Sydni Crowell and Micah Crowell, her grandmother Dr. Stacey Fazenbaker, and Madisonville Police Major Jason McKnight, who has provided information publicly about the investigation.

Scottie was only 10 months old. While investigators work to establish every detail of the approximately eight hours that preceded her d34th, her family is now facing a l0ss that has transformed an apparent forgotten daycare drop-off into a tr4g3dy that has drawn attention far beyond Madisonville.