The House Standing Committee on Families and Children has approved House Bill 574, moving it to the main floor.
Known as “Baby Miya’s Law,” it was sponsored by Rep. Myron Dossett of Pembroke, with Rep. Scott Lewis of Hartford serving as the primary co-sponsor of this bill.
In a written statement, Dossett said the safety of innocent children has “utmost importance,” and that the state should intervene when a child is born to parents who already have their children in someone else’s custody due to neglect or abuse.
Those children, Dossett added, should be safe and cared for, and that children’s safety should be first while parents proactively change their lives for the better before any child, especially a newborn, is returned to their custody.
If passed, House Bill 574 would require anyone with reasonable knowledge of a child who was born to parents — who have other children in the custody of the state or an ongoing dependency, abuse, or neglect case — report to the Kentucky State Police or another relevant authority.
The notification, he said, would serve as rebutting presumption that the child is in immediate danger, and would help provide an emergency custody order for the child through the Cabinet for Health and Family Services.
This bill comes in the wake of a 2024 infant’s death, Miya Rudd, in Ohio County, where an investigation is currently ongoing.
At eight months old, her body was left to decompose in her parent’s home: 29-year-old Tesla Tucker and 30-year-old Cage C. Rudd.
Both were charged with several drug-related offenses, as well as child abuse and abandonment of a minor, and since then, six others connected to the family have been arrested — including maternal and fraternal grandparents.
