PANAMA CITY, FL - According to a crime report on mypanhandle.com, the Bay County Sheriff's Office and Bay County Paramedics were called, by family members, to an emergency situation involving a 7-week-old baby found dead inside of a hot car.
An incident report from the Bay County Sheriff's Office alleges the baby's mother was high on meth and pleasuring herself in her bedroom when the daughter of her boyfriend entered the room and questioned the mother about the baby. The Bay County Sheriff's Office report states that the mother said, "Oh my God," and the woman ran outside to her car. However, the baby was already dead in the car. The baby was left inside the motor vehicle in the hot sun for about four hours. Once toxicology reports confirmed the woman's drug use on the day of the woman's baby's death, law enforcement officers arrested the woman and charged the woman with aggravated manslaughter. The woman was processed and booked into the Bay County Jail.
According to the news report, the mother is pleading "not guilty" to the criminal charges filed against her. The 30-year-old defendant posted a $13,000 bond, and she was then released from the Bay County Jail.
After the baby's tragic death, several people who know the defendant and the baby's father stated that all of the warning signs were there. The Lynn Haven Police Department noted that the defendant overdosed while she was driving a car and just 16 days after delivering her baby.
According to Ricky Ramie, the Lynn Haven Police Chief, the officers found the defendant alone and slumped over in the driver's seat. They performed sternum rubs and other things to try and wake up the defendant. However, we could not wake her up. The officers then immediately called for an ambulance. The officers did not smell any odors of alcohol or drugs. The emergency medical service technicians gave her a Narcan dose, which is used as an opioid overdose reversal agent. However, that did not work. The defendant was hospitalized, and once she recovered, she was released by the hospital. The officers found and collected a white powdery substance and a transparent liquid that was stored in a pill bottle. The presumptive field tests were ineffective, and the substances were sent to a lab. No charges at the time were filed since no drugs were detected at that time. The liquid and powder tested positive for GHB (also known as the date rape drug or scoop). The defendant is facing a total of seven drug-related criminal charges, including paraphernalia and marijuana charges she received back in June.
The baby's father also has a lengthy criminal history, according to the news report. The baby's father is a two-time convicted felon who has been arrested on eight drug-related charges and 16 separate theft or burglary charges. The father is currently in jail, facing drug trafficking and theft charges. His arrest was one month after the baby's death.