A couple in Michigan is facing involuntary manslaughter and second-degree child abuse
charges after reportedly suffocating their young child who got stuck in the couch
“while they were intoxicated,”
per PEOPLE. Reports added that the child was merely 6 months old. The parents, 40-year-old Jose Antonio Roldan Jr and 29-year-old Ladesha Ann Powe recently went to court, per WOOD-TV.
According to court documents, the couple in Kalamazoo allegedly confessed to consuming alcohol and marijuana while looking after their daughter back in Dec. 2023. On Dec. 13, officials were called to their home after a report of an unresponsive baby.
A probable cause affidavit says that Roldan claimed he fell asleep on the couch with the baby beside him. When he woke up, he found the 6-month-old stuck and unresponsive. He woke up Powe, the child’s mother, and contacted emergency officials. Sadly, the baby was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
According to court documents, Roldan admitted to consuming nine or 10 large cans of alcohol, while Powe had five drinks. They also smoked marijuana. Video footage from inside their home showed them drinking in the living room, with Roldan lying on the couch and Powe holding the baby as she sat at the end of the couch.
According to the affidavit, the documents state that Powe fell asleep, causing the baby to fall out of her arms and
“become wedged between her father”
and the couch. Powe admitted to being heavily intoxicated when this transpired.
According to court documents, Roldan unintentionally smothered the baby while sleeping. Powe, seen in video footage, wakes up, searches for the baby, and then goes to the bedroom for the night. The medical examiner determined the cause of death as mechanical asphyxia, ruling it a homicide.
#Clique, what are your thoughts?
