Court records indicate possible murder charge in Lynchburg child death case

Fantasia Lane, who was charged with child abuse and neglect in August, has two new potential charges next to her name on the Virginia Courts website in relation to her daughter’s death.

On Aug. 11, 22-month-old Amarah Lane was taken to Lynchburg General Hospital with significant injuries. According to a "list of events" log from the Lynchburg Department of Emergency Communications, Amarah had a subdural hematoma. She was transferred to UVA hospital in Charlottesville, where she later died.

Her mother, Fantasia Lane, was arrested and charged with “child abuse and neglect resulting in serious injury.” She has been in jail since then.

On Thursday, Lane's case was made public on the court's website. In addition to her original charge, her name is listed next to “Murder-Non-Capital” and “Child Endangerment.”

These charges are not set, but a Grand Jury could consider possible indictments November 5th.

WDBJ7 reached out to the Lynchburg Office of the Commonwealth’s Attorney. They were unable to comment at this time and said it is an ongoing investigation. WDBJ7 made contact with Lane’s attorney who also declined to comment.

According to court documents given to WDBJ7 in August, Amarah was in foster care for most of her life until a judge transferred custody back to Lane this past May. The documents show she was originally entered into care after Lane brought Amarah to the hospital at three weeks old with “burns to her face” and “two swollen hands.”

Lynchburg's Department of Human Services updated Social Services Advisory Board members on the case last month. Tamara Rosser, the Director of LHS, couldn't comment on the specifics of the case, but says all policies and procedures were followed.

“We investigated, decisions were made,” Rosser said in an October interview. "We had our regional specialist come in and also to review the case and confirm that we followed policies and procedures regarding the situation.”

WDBJ7 reached out to Virginia Department of Social Services to confirm that a regional specialist reviewed the case. A representative from DSS is working on answering that question, but was unable to by Thursday evening.