DALTON, Ga. — The mother of a 20-month-old child who was found dead said she is “overjoyed” to be reunited with her daughter after criminal charges against her were dismissed by the Whitfield County grand jury on Thursday.

Tiffany Dianne Gibson, 27, was charged with two counts of cruelty to children after her son, Terry Gibson, died in January. Since then, she has had restricted visitation with her 5-year-old daughter.

District Attorney Bert Poston said in a press release the dismissal of charges by the grand jury came after consideration of the evidence and on the recommendation of prosecutors. Poston cited autopsy results indicating that Neisseria meningitis was the cause of death.

Gibson’s attorney, L. Hugh Kemp, issued the following statement: “Ms. Tiffany Gibson and her counsel, L. Hugh Kemp, Esq., were at all times confident that the state had no case against her. Nevertheless, she and counsel are pleased with the recommendation by the district attorney and the dismissal by the grand jury.

“Ms. Gibson was very unhappy with the fact that she could only visit with her 5-year-old daughter for two hours every other weekend at Compassion House pursuant to the bond restrictions. However, she now understands that the state had to make a complete investigation of all the facts. She is overjoyed to be reunited with her daughter. She and counsel are happy that they do not have to go through an expensive and emotional draining trial.”

“Pending autopsy results, the original charges of cruelty related to an alleged failure to provide food and sustenance for the deceased son and his 5-year-old sister,” Poston wrote in the press release. “However, it was later determined that neither child was malnourished. Living conditions in the home were deplorable including animal feces inside the house and urine and fecal stains inside the crib where it had not been properly cleaned. Early in the investigation it appeared that there may have been a connection between the death and the living conditions.

“However, an autopsy report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, Department of Forensic Sciences, Medical Examiner’s Office was completed in May and found that the cause of death was Neisseria meningitis, a form of bacterial meningitis particularly deadly in young children which led to rapid adrenal gland failure,” he continued. “According to Dr. Lora Darrisaw, director of Pediatric Pathology at the crime lab, the child could have reasonably gone from onset of symptoms (fever) to death within a matter of hours.

“Additionally, the illness would not have been caused by or connected to the sanitary conditions in the home. The Neisseria bacteria would have been transmitted from another person who had or was a carrier for the infection and would have been transmitted most likely through kissing the child or coughing or sneezing near the child.”

Poston said Gibson’s actions the night before her son’s death did not appear to be “unreasonable given the symptoms presented.”

“Ms. Gibson reported to investigators that her son had a fever the night before his death which she treated with Tylenol,” Poston wrote. “Other individuals in the home confirmed the child’s fever with no other observed symptoms. Medical records showed that Gibson routinely took the child to the doctor when ill and it does not appear that her actions the night before her son’s death were unreasonable given the symptoms presented. Neisseria meningitis in young children has a 50 percent mortality rate. So even had she immediately taken the child to the emergency room that night, the child may have still died from the infection.”