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Columbia woman accused of killing baby arrested

A 24-year-old Columbia woman has been accused of killing an 11-week-old baby who died in May after a pacifier blocked her airway.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that Treschell Kemp was arrested Thursday on a Cooper County warrant and charged with second-degree murder, first-degree domestic assault and child abuse.

A probable cause statement says Kemp's suspected of causing the baby girl's death on May 14 by shoving a pacifier into the child's mouth, obstructing her airway and causing asphyxiation. Cooper County Sheriff Jerry Wolfe says in a release that Kemp was not related to the infant.

An autopsy showed the baby's death did not appear to be accidental.

Online records don't list a lawyer for Kemp, who's being held on $250,000 bond.

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