Mother-of-three arrested after her toddler dies in a washing machine.

An Arkansas woman been arrested after her three-year-old daughter was found dead in the home’s washing machine last year.

Taking a nap with her two of her three daughters, 25-year-old Brooke Haney claims the accident occurred while the trio were sleeping.

Awaking from the nap an hour and 15 minutes later, Haney says she found three-year-old Alexis missing, with a search of the property beginning shortly thereafter.

It was only after Haney enlisted the help of a neighbour to search that Alexis was discovered inside the washing machine, where she had died from thermal injuries and severe scalding from the hot water.

Brooke Haney. Source: Arkansas Matters. 

According to Arkansas Matters, the washing machine was programmed to switch on when the lid was closed.

Haney's eldest daughter, who was not napping with her mother at the time, told police investigators shortly after the 25 October accident that she and Alexis would often climb into the washing machine to retrieve clothes in a bid to help their mother with the laundry.

"It hurt my heart to know a little child died like that," neighbour Bobbie Holmes said. "I couldn't imagine what pain she went through."

Haney's house in Hampton, Arkansas. Source: Arkansas Matters. 

Now pregnant with her fourth child, documents obtained by The Washington Post show that Haney was pulled over by police on 21 August - just two months before Alexis' death - and given a number of sobriety tests, all of which she failed. Haney's 10-month-old daughter Brooklyn was in the car at the time of the tests and officers determined she was “exhibiting behaviour indicating she was under the influence of prescription medication,” with prescription medication being found in her possession without a valid prescription".

Arrested on 26 July, Haney has been charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor and is set to face court on 10 August.