Las Vegas police investigate co-sleeping as cause in baby’s death
Las Vegas police are investigating the death of an infant on Thursday morning as a possible co-sleeping fatality.
The Metropolitan Police Department was notified by the Las Vegas Fire Department shortly after 7:50 a.m. that a baby was not breathing at a home on the 4600 block of Eugene Avenue, near North Decatur and West Lake Mead boulevards, according to Metro spokeswoman Laura Meltzer.
The baby, whose age and gender were not released, was pronounced dead at the scene.
A short time later, officers were called to the 2200 block of North Rancho Drive, about a half mile from the scene, and found a man on the ground bleeding after a motorcycle crash. Meltzer said the man told police he was related to the baby who died.
At the scene, Sgt. Miguel Garcia said he “was a family member who was upset and didn’t want to be here.”
”Unfortunately when people take off and are emotional, they don’t make good decisions when driving,” he said, adding that the man was not considered a suspect in the death.
Few details were released at a briefing. It was not clear with whom the baby was sleeping or how many people were inside the home at the time, Garcia said.
Outside the two-story, tan stucco home, a man in a black hooded-sweatshirt sat slouched on a curb with his head between his legs as officers conducted their investigation. A woman’s wails also could be heard.
Garcia said no arrests had been made as of about 11 a.m., although Metro’s abuse and neglect unit will continue investigating the death and determine whether any charges will be filed.
“Our focus isn’t prosecution because this is usually accidental,” Meltzer has said of such cases. “Keeping in mind that babies have no control over their environment, we weigh the totality of the circumstances, and we reserve criminal charges for the most egregious cases.”
In the Las Vegas Valley, Metro averages about 21 deaths annually from parents sleeping with young children.
The Clark County coroner’s office will release the infant’s name, as well as cause and manner of death.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.
