Raeleigh Phillips: Woman charged for death of her newborn after leaving him in car for 13 hours

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LAWRENCEBURG, TENNESSEE: A 9-day-old baby boy from Indiana died after his mother allegedly neglected to feed him for 14 hours and left him in a car seat for 13 hours.

The mother is currently being held in jail. Prosecutor Lynn Deddens of the 7th Judicial Circuit announced on Wednesday, April 10 that Raeleigh Phillips, 22, faces charges of reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent resulting in death, both level one felonies.

Raeleigh Phillips admitted leaving boy in car seat for 13 hours

On March 3, at about 2:30 in the morning, the Lawrenceburg Police Department was called to an apartment at 71 Bellaire Drive in reference to an infant who was not responding.

After the infant was taken by ambulance to the hospital, paramedics declared him dead. The boy had been dead for "an extended period of time," according to further investigation, according to Deddens.

During a later interview, Phillips allegedly admitted to the detectives that she had left the boy in the car seat for thirteen hours. Experts advise against leaving a baby or toddler in a car seat for more than two hours at a time.

“Phillips claimed she had fallen asleep and then found her infant son slouched in the car seat. The infant was cold, blue, and limp,” Deddens said.

In an affidavit that Cincinnati Fox affiliate WXIX was able to obtain, Phillips stated that on March 2, at around 1:00 pm, she had the boy in his car seat and had taken him to Kroger.

According to the affidavit, she claimed that when they arrived home approximately one hour later, he was asleep and appeared content, so she left him in the car seat and brought him inside her apartment.

She reportedly watched TV, dozed off in her bedroom with the car seat next to her between 4:30 and 5 pm, and woke up at around 2 am on March 3. According to the documents, when she checked on him, he was limp and cold.

Child was found wearing a dirty diaper and not fed for 14 hours

Investigators found that he was wearing a dirty diaper and that Phillips had not fed him for fourteen hours. The cause of death was determined by preliminary autopsy results to be positional asphyxia.

Positional asphyxia, according to a report from Oklahoma State University, happens when an infant's mouth or nose is covered, or when the baby's head is hunched over or pressed up against the chest, obstructing the airway.

“Infants and toddlers awake but unattended in a car seat or sling have died because their movements may block their nose and mouth, preventing breathing,” the report said.

After Phillips was taken into custody by police on Tuesday, April 9, she was given a $7,500 cash bond in addition to a $200,000 surety bond. May 16 is her next court date.

According to court documents, Phillips was detained by police in 2021 on charges of possessing marijuana and paraphernalia, neglecting a dependent, and maintaining a common nuisance.

After entering a guilty plea to the charge of neglecting a dependent, the judge sentenced her to probation and a 545 suspended jail term.