Springfield woman charged after baby found dead in home

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Springfield woman has been charged with her child’s death after the baby was found unresponsive in their home.

Danielle Nikkita Creech, 30, has been charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and is currently being held in the Greene County Jail on a $50,000 bond.

According to a probable cause statement from the Springfield Police Department (SPD), officers arrived at a residence on April 18 for a report of a dead infant. When police arrived, they found the child deceased.

Two witnesses told SPD that Creech was known to smoke methamphetamine and had recently started using the drug intravenously.

In an interview with police, Creech admitted she had used the drug daily from April 14 to April 17, and had stopped because she was tired. She told officers she had enough experience with meth to know that after using it for four days, she was going to “crash”.

On the night of April 17, Creech said she was sitting on the side of her bed and feeding the child with a bottle at around 11:00 p.m. The next thing Creech said she remembered was waking up on her back, her feet still on the floor as they had been while feeding the baby.

Creech told investigators she looked around for the child and discovered her lying on her back under where Creech’s back had been.

Online court documents show that preliminary autopsy results were consistent with Creech’s statements. Documents also state that a witness told SPD that Creech continued to do drugs even after the child’s death and that she plans to flee the area if charges are filed.

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