Death of baby under investigation
News-Sun staff report December 31, 2012 5:40PM
Updated: February 2, 2013 6:20AM
LAKEMOOR — One of a pair of twin 2-month-old girls died over the weekend, possibly of positional asphyxia, according to officials.
Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd said Deonna Davis was found unresponsive on a couch Sunday morning by her father, Claude Davis of Lakemoor. Davis and twin girls had slept on the couch overnight.
“Apparently, the mother and father and the twins often slept on the couch watching television,” said Rudd. On Saturday night, the girls’ mother went out with friends and was staying overnight at a girlfriend’s house. The father fell asleep with the two girls on the couch and in the morning he got up and made breakfast for the daughter who slept closest to him. When he went to get the other baby, she was unresponsive.
“It’s not called sudden infant death syndrome anymore. It’s positional asphyxia,” said Rudd. An autopsy is scheduled for Wednesday.
Rudd said parents should never lay babies down on their stomach because they are not strong enough to turn over if they have obstructed breathing. He said babies should always be laid on their back until a parent actually sees the baby turn over on its own.
He said the death is still being investigated “but could be a positional asphyxia death.”
