BATON ROUGE, La (BRPROUD) — A Baton Rouge mother was arrested Thursday by the Baton Rouge Police Department (BRPD) for the death of her infant daughter.
On June 18, officials arrived at the 5700 block of Alexander Avenue regarding an unresponsive infant. During the investigation, officials learned that the mother, 23-year-old Keanna Thomas, dropped the infant off at her sister’s house before she went out for the night.
Thomas said she consumed multiple alcoholic beverages before returning to pick up her daughter. The 23-year-old said she returned home with the infant and placed her in the middle of the bed before laying down beside her.
Thomas said she was awakened by a family member who told her that the infant was missing. The infant was found on the floor, unresponsive.
According to the arrest documents, Thomas admitted to several people that she was drunk on Tito’s Vodka when she picked up the infant from her sister’s home.
The East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office ruled the infant’s cause of death to be positional asphyxiation due to unsafe sleeping and suffocation due to being face down in pillows.
BRPD arrested Thomas, holding her responsible for the infant’s death.
Thomas was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison for negligent homicide.
This is an ongoing investigation.