Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Between pillow and couch, baby dies

By PHIL DAVIS
Published March 29, 2005

NEW PORT RICHEY - Ten-month-old Salina Newton tended to be fussy at bedtime, so her grandmother often sat up with her on the couch.

Early Sunday, something about that routine went wrong.

Family members noticed Salina wasn't breathing about 1:44 a.m., a Pasco County Sheriff's Office report said. The family, firefighters, paramedics and a hospital trauma team tried to revive the baby, but Salina was pronounced dead at 2:30 a.m.

"After a preliminary investigation by our detectives, it appears to be accidental," Pasco County sheriff's spokesman Doug Tobin said Monday. "The detectives believe the child died due to suffocation between a pillow and the couch."

Tobin said an autopsy was performed on Sunday, but the final cause of death won't be known until toxicology tests return from the lab in a few weeks.

Carol Cummins, nursing director of the Pasco County Health Department, said accidental death by suffocation at 10 months is unusual, "but not unheard of." Babies at that age are more mobile than newborns and can wiggle themselves into trouble.

"It is always good to be vigilant and careful," she said, adding that babies should always be kept on a firm surface free of gaps and cracks where they can get stuck.

Sudden infant death syndrome also is a possible cause of death.

"Even at 10 months, SIDS deaths can occur and they can occur even if somebody is sitting beside them," Cummins said.

Earlier this month, a 2-month-old boy in Wesley Chapel died while sleeping in a bed with relatives. In that case, the autopsy showed no signs of foul play. The Department of Children and Families had taken the infant, Gavin Waters, from his parents' home in Hillsborough County. The infant was placed with the child's aunt and uncle in Wesley Chapel.

Cynthia Newton, 16, left her daughter with the grandmother, Deborah Sue Newton, 41, who is Cynthia's mother, about 10 p.m. Saturday at their home at 7450 Clumber Drive in New Port Richey, according to a deputy's report. About 1:44 a.m., Deborah Newton got up to use the restroom and Cynthia Newton's boyfriend, 19-year-old Marc Jordan, noticed something was wrong with Salina. It's unclear from the report whether Deborah Newton was sleeping.

He woke Cynthia Newton, who saw the baby wasn't breathing. She called 911 while other relatives performed CPR. Efforts to revive the child failed.

The Newton family could not be reached for comment on Monday.

Cummins invited anyone with questions about the best way to handle a baby to contact the Healthy Start program at (727) 869-3900, ext. 296.

"I'm a grandmother several times over and I can tell you that you're never too old to learn some things about babies," she said.

[Last modified March 29, 2005, 01:31:18]