Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – The Lewis County coroner has ruled the death of the Centralia baby found to have methamphetamine in its system was accidental.

The 3-month-old died of smothering, secondary to “overlaying and bed sharing,” Lewis County Coroner Warren McLeod said today.

That’s why doctors recommend parents don’t sleep with babies in adult beds, he said.

“You can suffocate an infant with a kleenex, or if anything goes over their mouth and nose it can suffocate them very easily,” he said.

Centralia police and aid were called on May 6 when the little girl’s mother awoke and found her unresponsive. Attempts to revive her were unsuccessful.

The Lewis County Corner’s Office performs autopsies as a matter of routine in baby deaths.

After the results of a blood test from the autopsy showed positive for the presence of meth last week, the mother was arrested and then charged with endangerment with a controlled substance.

Sabrina L. Sumter allegedly admitted to smoking methamphetamine regularly, including in her home.

Sumter pleaded not guilty yesterday in Lewis County Superior Court. Lewis County Prosecutor Jonathan Meyer added a second count of the same offense related to Sumter’s other child. Sumter remains held in the Lewis County Jail on $25,000 bail.

The offenses have a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

The allegation is the defendant knowingly allowed the infant to be exposed to, to inhale, to ingest or have contact with methamphetamine. The mother is not charged with causing the death.

The child’s name was Aleigha Celerino-Garcia. Her father was not around at the time of the death and has since been deported to Mexico, according to Meyer.

Meyer said has not seen the final autopsy report although he knows what the coroner’s findings are.

“Right now I think the charges are appropriate,” Meyer said this afternoon.

McLeod said while he saw this type of death many times when he worked in Nevada, this is the first time he has encountered it here in Lewis County.

His office is considering getting involved with a non-profit group that helps provide cribs for parents who can’t afford them, he said.
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For background, read “Charge: Centralia infant exposed to meth smoke, cause of death unknown” from Thursday June 29, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Mineral Lake is being checked today with sonar devices in an attempt to find a 54-year-old boater who vanished on Wednesday.

Investigators are still working on learning the specifics of what occurred, but have been searching since that afternoon for Gerald L. Harris, a Mineral resident.

Gerald L. Harris

Deputies were dispatched about 4 p.m. on Wednesday to a report of a  female in a boat along the shoreline, according to the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office.

The 49-year-old Mineral woman said her significant other had been on the boat and was believed to be in the water, sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dusty Breen wrote in a press release this afternoon.

Deputies gained the assistance of other boaters on the lake and began to check the area, Breen stated. They checked Harris’s residence and other locations in the community but could not find him, according to Breen. They “entered” Harris as a missing person.

Yesterday, members of the sheriff’s office boating unit conducted additional searches with no results. Today, they are being helped by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office Dive Team, according to Breen.

Breen indicated the woman was unable to provide very specific information, but didn’t elaborate on why that was.

Anyone who may have observed Harris or his significant other on Wednesday, or who has additional information on the incident, is asked to please call the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office at 360-748-9286 or Lewis County Communications at 360-740-1105.
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For background, read “News brief: Authorities investigate possible drowning in Mineral” from Thursday July 6, 2017, here

By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Initial evidence and an autopsy appear consistent with a Glenoma man’s account of shooting in self defense in the woods south of Randle, but the case will be forwarded to prosecutors for review, the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said today.

Deputies were dispatched on Tuesday evening to a campsite along on Forest Service Road 2801, after a 63-year-old Glenoma man called 911 to report he’d fatally shot someone.

The dead man is tentatively identified as a 51-year-old with no fixed address. An autopsy was performed today.

Detectives processed the scene on Wednesday and have conducted additional follow up investigation, according to sheriff’s Chief Deputy Dusty Breen.

Breen related today the Glenoma man, whose name has not been released, told authorities he and his wife drove into the 51-year-old’s camp site to contact him about discharging firearms in an unsafe manner.

He further advised “the decedent approached the driver side door of their vehicle and produced a firearm, firing multiple shots, to include one round into their interior of the vehicle,” Breen wrote in a press release.

The Glenoma man said he had a firearm in his vehicle, and he fired one round, striking the man and killing him, according to Breen.

Breen said the Glenoma couple were not camping, but were out on a drive and heard gunshots going through the trees.

Based on information found at the scene, the sheriff’s office believes the deceased is the 51-year-old and his next-of-kin have been contacted, but a confirmation of his identity will be done by the Lewis County Corner’s Office, Breen said.

Once the investigation is completed, it will be turned over to the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office, according to the sheriff’s office.

Breen asked once again for anyone with information on the incident to please call the Lewis County Sheriff’s Office  at 360-748-9286 or Lewis County Communications at 360-740-1105.
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For background, read “One dead after shooting in forest near Randle” from Wednesday July 5, 2017, here