The State - News from April 21, 1989

A judge has ordered a Ridgecrest couple to stand trial on felony child endangerment charges stemming from the malnutrition death of their 2-month-old daughter. Kern County prosecutors charge that James Lee, 37, and Tonnette Rae Lee, 28, allowed conditions to exist that were likely to produce great bodily harm or death to their daughter, Janelle Lee. Sheriff’s reports said the baby weighed 3 pounds, 14 ounces when she died Dec. 8, well below the 5 pounds, 6 ounces she weighed at birth on Oct. 1. The couple, who have two older children, said they fed Janelle a milk formula and a brand-name baby food regularly. They said they discussed taking her to a doctor two weeks before she died. However, the couple had only one car, which Lee needed to get to work at China Lake Naval Weapons Station. West Kern Municipal Judge Phil McNutt scheduled arraignment May 3 in Superior Court.