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.
•••
For background, read “Charge: Centralia infant exposed to meth smoke, cause of death unknown” from Thursday June 29, 2017, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Supply cribs to those that can’t afford them…That’s great but NOT the case here. If she can afford meth, she can afford a crib!!
This is so messed up on every level. The baby dies, the other kid is in cps care, the father gets deported and the mother is in jail…need we say more? So sad an awful sad situation no matter out you look at it. SMH
A crib at a thrift store =$20….. Meth habit costs what? Free cribs aren’t the awnser. Education, physical activity and other opportunities for our youth. Other than drugs and making babies.
This is just so sad. More parents should be charged with child endangerment when smoking any drug in the home with children. Take your shit outside or better yet don’t have kids if your strung out!