Mother was drunk when baby died from suffocation after falling off bed, police say

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB/Gray News) - A mother was arrested in the death of her 4-month-old daughter, according to police in Louisiana.

The Baton Rouge Police Department said 23-year-old Keanna Thomas is facing negligent homicide charges in connection with the infant’s death. Police said Thomas’ daughter was found dead at a home on June 18.

According to the arrest warrant, Thomas told investigators she dropped her child off at her sister’s house to go out for the night and said she had several drinks before returning later to pick up the baby and go home.

The warrant stated that she also told investigators she had put the baby in the middle of the bed before lying next to the child and falling asleep. Thomas was later awakened by a family member and saw the baby was no longer in the bed with her, according to the warrant.

The document stated Thomas told police she then found the baby on the floor, face down in some pillows and bedding. Thomas said she picked up the baby, realized the infant was unresponsive and contacted EMS, the document added.

Authorities said it remains unknown how the baby ended up on the floor but that Thomas allegedly admitted to several people that she had gotten drunk that night.

The East Baton Rouge Coroner’s Office conducted an autopsy and ruled suffocation as the cause of death, WAFB reports. The arrest warrant went into more detail and stated, “the cause of death was found to be positional asphyxiation due to unsafe sleeping, and suffocation due to being face down in pillows and bedding.”

The warrant added investigators found Thomas to be at fault by allegedly “admitting that she knew she was intoxicated.” It said she “showed gross disregard to the victim by picking the victim up from her sister’s residence first and later placing the victim in the bed with her which led to the victim suffocating and passing away.”

Thomas was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison.

The investigation is ongoing.

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