Police are charging a Ripley mother with child neglect resulting in death for allegedly smoking marijuana before falling asleep for several hours, a period of time during which her 4-month-old infant died.
Charity Ann Clinard, 24, told the county coroner she had smoked marijuana before taking some Robitussin and putting the infant on a pillow on the living room floor for a nap at about 3 p.m. on Jan. 6, according to a criminal complaint filed in Jackson County Magistrate Court. At about 7 p.m., she found the baby face-down on a plastic grocery bag a few feet away, not breathing. She told police the baby could roll over.
Clinard then ran to a neighbor's residence at Suite View apartments, where they both called 911. The neighbor told police she was "freaking out."
Emergency responders found the baby was already pale white and cold to the touch when they arrived.
Dispatchers had tried to walk Clinard through CPR, which she attempted for awhile, before she stopped and a dispatcher heard her say "No, he's gone, he's gone," according to the complaint.
Police said that Clinard appeared "very upset and emotional" while at the hospital.
The chief medical examiner could not definitively conclude a cause of death. He saw no signs of abuse or trauma on the infant's body.
Police wrote in the complaint that Clinard could have put the baby in a swing to sleep instead of on a pillow.
Police also wrote that when Clinard was arrested, a joint was found in her pocket. She was charged with possession of a controlled substance.
Clinard allegedly told the coroner she laid the baby down to sleep at about 3 p.m., then told police she laid the baby down to sleep between 12:30 p.m. and 1 p.m.
She also later told police she didn't smoke marijuana on that day, in contrast to the comments she made to the coroner, according to the complaint.
Clinard has another child, a 5-year-old boy in the custody of his father.
She faces not less than three nor more than 15 years in prison and a fine of $1,000 to $5,000. She was being held in South Central Regional Jail on $250,000 bail Tuesday.
Reach Erin Beck at erin.beck@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-5163, Facebook.com/erinbeckwv, or follow @erinbeckwv on Twitter.