Maryland – A Maryland woman was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with first-degree murder, first-degree chiId abuse resuIting in death, child abuse resulting in the death of a chiId under 13 and child abuse resulting in severe bodiIy injury after her 1-month-old newborn was found dead at a Maryland residence.
The death prompted a call for emergency help shortly after 9 a.m. last week when law enforcement and emergency medical services responded to the unit block. Responding medics pronounced the infant deceased at the scene and the case was turned over to investigators for a death investigation.
The infant’s body was transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy. State police said the autopsy revealed evidence of trauma; later media reports that reviewed police documents described the injury as blunt force trauma with bleeding to the back of the brain and other signs consistent with traumatic injury. Investigators treated the death as a homicide and the Maryland State Police Homicide Unit took the lead on the probe.
Investigators worked with the Office of the County State’s Attorney to build the case. Police obtained and executed search warrants for the mother’s, 24-year-old D. ChiveraI, mobiIe device, her person and two residences associated with her. Evidence recovered during those searches was described by state police as supporting probable cause for the murder and child abuse charges and led to woman’s arrest without incident.
According to statements investigators recorded, the mother told police she believed the baby had rolled in between a couch cushion and the rear of the couch. Police documents obtained by the press say investigators found a series of videos posted from a public digital account in the hours before the child’s death that show the woman drinking and behaving in ways detectives described as intoxicated while the infant is audible or visible in the background. In some of those videos she can be heard describing the baby’s behavior and complaining about being drunk; in one video the baby is alive and crying. Maryland authorities say the timeline created from those recordings and other evidence helped establish probable cause for the charges.
Police have declined to release the infant’s name publicly and said they will withhold certain investigative details while the case is active. The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner’s final report will be part of the official record and could be released in accordance with state law and at the direction of prosecutors. Prosecutors and investigators said they will continue to interview witnesses, review phone records and other digital material, and follow up on any additional leads while preparing the case for court.
Paramedics found the 1month-old infant cold and showing early signs of having been deceased for some time. An autopsy later determined she died from blunt force trauma, including bleeding to the back of the brain. Detectives recovered videos from the woman’s phone showing her intoxicated while caring for the baby. The infant could be heard crying in several clips. One video showed her unsteady and climbing over a baby gate. Another was recorded in a bathroom with the baby crying in the background. The last video, at 1:34 a.m., showed the baby alive; a picture visible in that recording was later found knocked out of place in the home.
Police located a nearly empty aIcohoI bottle that a witness said had been almost full days earlier. The mother told investigators the baby may have rolled between the couch and cushions. After learning the death was ruled a homicide, she denied harming the child and suggested sIeepwalking, accidentally kicking the newborn, or her older child being rough, though the sibIing was not present that night.
