Laura Nicholson faces Harris County charges after investigators cited cocaine findings in both children.
FORT MYERS, Fla. — A Texas mother wanted in the deaths of her two toddler daughters was arrested in Florida after Harris County investigators filed child injury charges tied to a February pool incident.
Laura Nicholson, 23, was booked into the Lee County Jail after authorities said fugitive teams located her in Florida on May 11. She is charged in Texas with two counts of injury to a child after her daughters, 2-year-old Kelsey Kite and 3-year-old Kinsley Kite, were found in a backyard pool and later determined to have cocaine in their systems.
The arrest came three days after the charges were filed in Harris County and nearly three months after deputies responded to the family’s home in the Katy area. Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said his agency’s Violent Criminals Apprehension Team coordinated with a regional fugitive task force to arrest Nicholson. Local reports placed her in the Fort Myers area. The booking in Florida opened a procedural path that must bring Nicholson back to Texas before the Harris County case can move through hearings tied to the charges.
The case began Feb. 11 in the 21000 block of Creek Edge Court. Harris County deputies responded after two children were found unresponsive in a backyard swimming pool. The girls’ grandmother had returned home from errands shortly after 11 a.m., saw a back door partly open and found both children in the water. Court records say she screamed, waking Nicholson and the children’s grandfather, who were inside the home. The grandmother and grandfather helped pull the girls from the pool, with neighbors joining the rescue effort and calling 911.
Emergency crews took the children to a hospital, where both were pronounced dead. In the first public statements, officials described the call as a potential drowning and said the facts were still developing. The girls were later identified as Kelsey and Kinsley Kite. Investigators said they did not know how long the sisters had been in the pool. The sheriff’s office said early information suggested the children may have gotten out through a patio door while their mother and grandfather slept and their grandmother was away from the home.
The investigation did not end with the emergency response. The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences later reported that both girls had cocaine and benzoylecgonine in their blood. Court records said their deaths were caused by drowning and acute cocaine toxicity. The findings became the basis for a criminal case that went beyond pool access and supervision. Gonzalez said the investigation determined that both children had cocaine in their systems at the time of their deaths. He described the deaths as a tragedy for the community and said the toddlers were sisters.
Court records describe a house where investigators say risks were known before the girls died. Nicholson told investigators the door latch leading to the backyard had been broken for two days. She also said her children were “always” getting out and running to the pool. The grandmother told authorities Nicholson was asleep on the couch when she left around 9:30 a.m. and that the girls were playing in the living room. The grandfather said he went to bed around the same time after returning from work and playing with the girls while they ate.
Family statements also became part of the probable cause record. Nicholson’s father told investigators she was fit to care for the girls but said she “falls asleep a lot and this causes issues.” Nicholson said she woke to her mother “screaming and hollering” after the children were discovered. Her mother accused her of using cocaine during an interview with Texas Child Protective Services after the deaths, according to court documents. Nicholson also told investigators that CPS had asked her the year before about drug allegations.
The affidavits allege Nicholson provided cocaine to the children, but authorities have not publicly released a full account of how they believe the exposure occurred. The records cite a pathologist who said any amount of cocaine can injure a child and increase the risk of death by affecting heart rate, blood pressure and arteries. The medical examiner also said drowning can be difficult to prove or disprove by autopsy alone and often depends on the facts around the death. Those facts include the pool, the open door, the children’s ages and who was supervising them.
Nicholson’s arrest outside Texas adds a second jurisdiction to the case but does not change where the charges are pending. Harris County prosecutors must handle the Texas case, while Florida jail and court officials manage the custody process until she is returned or otherwise transferred. Early public reports did not list a defense attorney for Nicholson. No court record had publicly shown a plea. It also remained unclear whether prosecutors would seek additional charges or whether investigators were still reviewing evidence from the home and the forensic reports.
The deaths drew local attention in February before any charge had been announced. At an early briefing, Major Ben Katrib of the Harris County Sheriff’s Office called the incident “a very sad, unfortunate circumstance.” The focus then was on how the children reached the pool. By May, after toxicology and autopsy findings, the focus had widened to include cocaine exposure and the conduct of the mother. The time between the deaths and the arrest reflected the gap between the initial emergency call and the completion of forensic and investigative work.
For the family, the case is also a record of a narrow morning window. The grandmother left about 9:30 a.m. and returned shortly after 11 a.m. The girls were reportedly inside when she left. The door was partly open when she came back. The pool was in the backyard. The adults who remained in the house were asleep, according to court records. Those details are likely to shape the prosecution’s effort to show what Nicholson knew, what she did or failed to do, and how the cocaine evidence fits into the deaths.
The remaining questions are legal as well as factual. Investigators have not publicly stated whether cocaine was found elsewhere in the house, whether anyone else was tested or whether another person could face scrutiny. The court process is expected to bring more records, including charging documents, forensic reports and witness statements. Until then, the public account rests on the sheriff’s announcement, the probable cause affidavits and the medical examiner’s findings.
Currently, Nicholson faced two Harris County charges and had not been tried. The next major step is her transfer from Florida proceedings to the Texas court handling the deaths of Kelsey and Kinsley Kite.
Author note: Last updated June 4, 2026.