FeedsParents mourn death of 4-month-old infant
The parents of a 4-month-old baby girl are mourning the death of their child.
Police responded to a 911 call placed by one of the parents at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28, that reported the baby girl was not breathing, according to Det. Robert Karls of the Inkster Police Department.
The baby had been sleeping between the parents in an adult bed at their home on West River Park Drive, said Karls.
“It’s still under investigation, but right now we don’t think there was anything in the way of foul play,” he said. “The baby was well taken care of, and the cause of death is undetermined.”
Attempts to resuscitate the infant at the scene were unsuccessful, Karls said. She was pronounced dead at the scene, he added.
Witnesses told police the baby was healthy and happy, except that she had a slight cold.
The baby’s parents, whose name are being withheld by the police, are 19 and 20 years old, and were first-time parents, said Karls. He said they were upset about their daughter’s death.
“They were what I would describe as extremely upset when we spoke with them,” he said.
Karls said police believe the baby likely died of accidental suffocation because she was sleeping between her parents.
“She was sleeping, and they woke up at about 3 a.m., and they gave her some cough medicine, and she was fine at that time,” he said.
The Wayne County Medical Examiner’s office conducted an autopsy, and the official findings will be known in a few weeks, Karls said.
This is the second time in the past year a child living in Inkster died after sleeping in an adult bed with one or both parents.
In December, the parents of a 2-month old baby discovered their child unresponsive at their Moore Street home. They also had slept with the baby.
Karls said he knows that a parent’s desire to place an infant in their bed is borne out of the need to bond with a child, but said doing so can have tragic consequences.
“We just want to remind all parents out there not to place a child in bed with them,” he said. “We can’t discourage them from doing so enough.”
