I wonder if this story will get anything like the distribution that the "heroin
in mom's milk" story got.
08/09/1997 07:53 EST
Baby Dies of Contaminated Milk
By ROBERT WELLER
Associated Press Writer
GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- An 8-month-old baby girl died
from drinking milk poisoned with raw sewage, and her mother has been
charged with criminally negligent homicide.
The filthy conditions in the family's trailer spurred investigators to examine
milk fed to Samantha Alena, who died just after Christmas from
methemoglobinemia. The infection oxidizes hemoglobin, rendering it unable to
transport oxygen in the blood, an autopsy said.
Authorities didn't charge her mother, Markele Peck, 25, until Wednesday
because investigators first thought the baby died of Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome. After the autopsy, prosecutors took months to rule out other
possibilities that could have produced the little-seen infection.
Officer Brett L. Williams said he saw dried fecal matter all the way to the top
of the bathtub.
``There was trash everywhere,'' emergency medical technician Suzy Taylor
wrote in her report. ``The smell and the stench was overwhelming.''
The baby's bottle appeared unclear, officers said. The autopsy found
deposits of the spoiled milk in the infant's stomach.
``If this child was in a caring home ... it would probably still be alive,''
coroner Dr. Rob Kurtzman told police.
Mrs. Peck, who now lives in Rifle, was released on $10,000 bond. Her
2-year-old boy remains in her care.
John Peck, the baby's father who was not charged in the case, told
authorities his children hadn't been to the doctor since they were 2 months
old. He said he had little to do with their care.
J. Rachael Hamlet
Author, The Breastfeeding Advocacy Page
http://www.clark.net/pub/activist/bfpage/bfpage.html
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