The mother initially charged with involuntary manslaughter after the death of her 7-month-old is now being charged with second-degree murder.
This upgrade to Rhae Ellen Odum's charge is added to her other felony charge of cruelty to a child after emergency personnel responded to a call on June 19 for an unconscious child at a Quality Inn in Kingsland, Georgia.
The Kingsland Police Department said when they arrived, the child was not breathing and was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The baby felt very hot and lifeless and may have died due to hyperthermia, according to previous reports.
Odum, 28, was crying hysterically when she approached people with her baby at the hotel.
Kingsland Police said physical evidence, witness statements and Odum's statements led to her arrest.
A grand jury returned an indictment on August 15 upgrading the charges to second degree murder, likely due to the a separate charge of cruelty to children Odum is facing. According to Georgia law, "a person commits the offense of murder in the second degree when, in the commission of cruelty to children in the second degree, he or she causes the death of another human being irrespective of malice."
In Georgia, second degree murder carries a sentence of ten to thirty years in prison.
Involuntary manslaughter is punishable of between one and ten years in prison.
Odum currently does not have a bond for her release.