Co-Sleeping Death, Milwaukee

Another child in Milwaukee dies. Co-sleeping is suspected as the cause of death.

It's a sad story.

From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:

A 3-month-old girl was found dead Sunday after spending the night sleeping beside her mother on a couch.

The 22-year-old mother, who is from Madison, was visiting friends and family in Milwaukee. The mother told investigators she had been drinking, according to a medical examiner's report released Monday.

Upon discovering her daughter was dead, according to the report, the mother attempted to cut her wrists.

According to the report, the mother cried out, "I killed my baby!

"I should be arrested. I did not hear her drowning. I did not wake up."

The medical examiner's office determined that the death was accidental, but it has not determined the cause of death.

If this was a co-sleeping death, there's an element of negligence. Of course, the mother didn't set out to kill her child. It was an accident, but due to taking an unreasonable risk.

Some accidents can be easily prevented. Had this baby been in a crib, she would be alive today.

According to the report:

The mother and child took a bus from Madison to Milwaukee and arrived Friday.

On Saturday, she visited a cousin living in the 1500 block of W. Mitchell St. There, according to the report, she split half a pint of Hennessy cognac. Around 9 p.m., she paid a cousin $10 to baby-sit the child and went to a bar.

When she returned, the infant was already asleep on a couch. The mother joined the child on the couch, which was covered with black faux-suede material, about 4 a.m. Sunday.

When she woke up, the child was facing the back of the couch, her face very near the cushion, according to the report.

The child was pronounced dead at the scene, where investigators found the baby's formula in the kitchen, beside a can of beer.

The mother told investigators that though she has a crib for her daughter, she has never put it together.

She said she believes it was safer to sleep with her baby.

I doubt the mother still believes it's safer to sleep with her baby rather than placing her daughter in a crib.

But because of her choices, her decisions to drink and then sleep on a couch with her little baby, this mother will be placing her infant daughter in a grave.