No Charges: 6mo baby smothered while sleeping with mom at Florida homeless shelter

[Sugar Cookie]

Authorities say a woman appears to have accidentally smothered her 6-month-old baby while they shared a bed at a Florida homeless shelter.

Indian River County Sheriff's Office spokesman Eric Flowers says deputies attempted CPR on the infant and then transported him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

A preliminary investigation shows the boy suffocated as he slept next to his mother. A crib was next to the bed.

An autopsy will determine an official cause of death. Authorities haven't released the names of the boy or his mother.

Detectives say no foul play is suspected. The case has been turned over to the State Attorney's Office, but Flowers says charges against the mother are unlikely.

Baby smothered while sleeping with mom at Florida homeless shelter

A preliminary investigation shows the 6-month-old boy suffocated as he slept next to his mother.

www.wtsp.com

 

[Brillig]

She should have left him in the crib. RIP, little boo.

 

[Sevens My Charm]

I can only imagine how scary it is to be in a homeless shelter and not have your baby sleeping with you with all the strangers mucking about. The safest I was in was four women to each room.. the most dangerous was a gymnasium type place with cots and coed.. sometimes it was actually safer for me on the streets.

 

[FrayedKnot]

My biggest fear for my daughter as a newborn was me falling asleep while nursing in our bed and thereby smothering her.

She is 18 now and I still have that nightmare. The fear is ingrained.

 

[Sejanus]

Why would you not use the crib?
It is a completely avoidable death.
SMH.

 

[Sevens My Charm]

Why would you not use the crib?
It is a completely avoidable death.
SMH.

It’s not always safe in shelters.. honestly. I understand her fear. It was rational. If she wasn’t touching the baby to wake up if someone touched the baby.. the what if’s played out in her mind. Honestly there were nights it was safer for me on the streets taking chances in the Walmart homeless community. I didn’t have kids to protect and sleeping was never easy it left you defenseless.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Most of us know what type of sleepers we are and if you are a restless heavy sleeper that you should not ever sleep with an infant or small child.

I think @Fives My Charm makes good points about what might have been in the mother's mind when she put the baby in the bed.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Sept. 30, 2019

An autopsy report for a 7-month-old infant who died Aug. 2 in an apparent co-sleeping incident showed no major injuries resulting in the child's death.

The autopsy report from the medical examiner's office in Fort Pierce said the cause of death was a "sudden unexpected infant death in the setting of unsafe sleep environment." The manner of the child's death remains undetermined, according to the report.

Deputies received a call from a frantic mother staying at the Samaritan Center early morning of Aug. 2 who mentioned her child was unresponsive, according to Indian River County Sheriff's Office spokesman Maj. Eric Flowers.

Based on a preliminary investigation, it appeared the child suffocated as he slept next to his mother, Flowers said.

The report said the infant, identified as Benjamin Buckner born Jan 3. of this year, had no fractures in his ribs, vertebrae or pelvic bone. The "evidence of injury" by the medical examiner was listed as none.

The only major finding in the autopsy showed the infant had an enlarged thymus, a main organ of the immune system, the report's conclusion stated. There were no other injuries to the baby's body.

The Florida Department of Children and Families was notified of the incident, but there will be no criminal charges filed against the child's mother, Flowers said.

Autopsy report: Cause of death for 7-month-old boy showed "unsafe sleep environment"

The released autopsy report said the cause of death was a "sudden unexpected infant death in the setting of unsafe sleep environment."

www.tcpalm.com