Baby’s Death Due to Mother's Partying

When warning about the dangers of drinking and drugs, we often focus on drinking and driving or the dangers of addiction and potential harm to the health of the person who is indulging. A tragic news story out of Charleston, West Virginia, though, shows a danger no one would have imagined. A 25-year-old South Charleston has been accused of passing out then smothering her infant daughter after a night of hard partying.

Leslie Erin Boggs, 25, was arrested Wednesday for the death of her 3-month-old daughter Raynna Rea Boggs, the Charleston Daily Mail reported. The baby died in May 2010, but it took detectives nearly nine months to make the case against the mother.

Police were called to the Boggs home on May 10, 2010 where an infant was said to be in cardiac arrest. The child was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead. According to the filed court report, Boggs originally told officers that she left the infant alone in a room while she cleaned, and when she returned, Raynna had been unresponsive.

The medical examiner’s findings didn’t corroborate that story, though. Instead, it showed "remarkable facial and anterior upper torso lividity suggestive of unreported accidental overlay," the complaint said. Boggs’ husband, who was not the baby’s father, eventually came forward with information about the infant’s death. He told detectives that Boggs had been drinking and using drugs the night before the incident and that she had passed out on the floor. Myers told detectives he saw the baby's feet sticking out from under Boggs when he walked around Boggs' body.

Substance Abuse Treatment

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