Police have charged a 24-year-old North Carolina woman in connection with the death of her newborn baby. Apparently, she was the second infant to die under her watch and weight control in two years.
Wilmington Police Department shown In the early morning hours of October 3, 2023, officers responded to the 800 block of Castle Street for a report of an unconscious infant who had stopped breathing. First responders were reportedly unable to revive the 7-week-old child, named Jen.
Investigators found Mackenzie Catlin Reed sleeping next to Jen and “she suffocated the child during the night.”
wilmington star news report The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that Jen’s cause of death was “asphyxia due to an unsafe sleeping environment.” Colds were also cited as an additional factor.
According to an investigation report obtained by Star News, the boy was sleeping in a queen-sized bed with his parents and twins. According to the autopsy, he was eventually found “prone…with a blanket over his face” and had “petechiae in the epicardium, pleural surfaces, diaphragm, and thymus” with swelling of the brain and lungs. It turned out that he was suffering from “.
The mother allegedly “smoked THC and used THC gummies.” [previous] day and night. ”
According to the investigator’s report, Reed fell asleep after feeding the child around midnight. Jen was on her left side at the time. When her father woke up and found the child, he was on Reid’s right side.
“I couldn’t believe it had happened again,” the mother said of the 2022 death of her 3-month-old baby boy, according to a police report.
Police said Reed also had “another child who was sleeping with her who also died.”
New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office Spokesperson Said WECT-TV reported that Reid was not charged in the infant’s death in 2022 “because it was determined there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.”
Police launched an investigation after Jen’s death in October. WPD finally obtained a warrant for Reed’s arrest on March 6 and subsequently took her into custody.
Reed is charged with felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury. He committed manslaughter. Child abuse/neglect resulting in serious physical injury.
“These charges are the result of a thorough investigation and hard work by the Wilmington Police Department Special Victims Unit in collaboration with the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office,” WPD said in a release.
As of last week, Mr. Reed was being held on a $500,000 secured bond.
according to According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, approximately 3,500 infants die each year from sleep-related infant deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), unexplained deaths, and accidental suffocation or strangulation.
The AAP states, “Create a safe sleep environment that reduces the risk of all sleep-related deaths. This includes avoiding bedding and overheating.”
In addition to warning against bed sharing, the AAP suggests parents can lower the risk of SIDS by avoiding exposure to nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, opioids, and illicit drugs.
The AAP further notes that research shows that bed sharing not only exposes children to various risk factors for SIDS, but also puts them at “additional risks of unintentional injury and death, including suffocation, suffocation, entrapment, falls, and strangulation.” “It has been shown,” he said. Babies born prematurely or with low birth weight are at greatest risk. ”
Pediatrician Heidi Suge Said According to the Cleveland Clinic, the sleep-related mortality risk for bed-sharing infants is five to 10 times higher during the early stages of life.
“Bed sharing is associated with SIDS, there’s no question about that,” Suge said. “Not recommended for babies of any age.”
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