- Raeleigh Phillips, 22, faces felony charges of reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent.
- She left her son asleep in a car seat and woke up from a nap to find him “cold, blue and limp.”
- The baby’s cause of death was determined to be positional asphyxiation, meaning he was sitting in a way that prevented him from breathing.
An Indiana woman faces charges in connection with the death of her nine-day-old baby after she left him in a car seat for 13 hours, causing him to suffocate.
Raeleigh Phillips, 22, was charged with reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent, two felonies, in connection with the death of her son, Emmett.
Police found the boy unresponsive and unresponsive at a Lawrenceburg apartment complex on March 3. He was taken to St. Elizabeth Dearborn Hospital and pronounced deceased.
An investigation revealed that the baby had been “deceased for an extended period of time” before first responders arrived, according to Lynn Deddens, prosecutor for the Seventh Judicial Circuit.
Following an autopsy, the cause of death was determined to be positional asphyxiation, meaning the baby’s body was positioned in a way that prevented him from breathing.
Raeleigh Phillips, 22, was charged with reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent in connection with the death of her nine-day-old son, Emmett.
Phillips called 911 after waking up from a nap and finding her son unresponsive. First responders transported the boy from Avery Apartments in Lawrenceburg to a nearby hospital, but he was pronounced dead.
According to prosecutor Lynn Deddens, Phillips had left the baby strapped in a car seat for approximately 13 hours. Her cause of death was determined to be positional asphyxiation.
Further investigation revealed that Emmett had been in the care of his mother and that Phillips had left the baby strapped in a car seat for approximately 13 hours.
Phillips told police the baby was asleep in the car seat when she got home, so she took him inside and let him continue sleeping while she took a nap.
When she woke up, she discovered her son was “cold, blue and limp,” according to Deddens. When she realized he wasn’t breathing, she called 911.
The baby had not been fed in about 14 hours and was wearing a dirty diaper, prosecutors said.
Police issued an arrest warrant for Phillips on April 9 and took her into custody that afternoon.
At an initial hearing before Judge Sally McLaughlin on Wednesday, his bail was set at $200,000 surety plus $7,500 cash.
Records show Phillips was convicted of neglect of a dependent in a different case in 2022.