HAYWARD, Wis. — A mother and her boyfriend are charged in the death of a 4-year-old girl with special needs, who authorities say had a "lethal" amount of alcohol in her bloodstream.
KBJR reports that the child’s mother, 26-year-old Samantha Smith, is charged in Sawyer County District Court with chronic neglect of a child and physical abuse charges. She was due to appear in court Wednesday morning.
Smith's significant other, 25-year-old Domenic Falkner, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, physical abuse of a child, and chronic neglect of a child. He was also expected to appear in Sawyer County Court Wednesday morning.
Criminal complaints filed against the defendants say first responders were called to a home on W. 2nd. St. in Hayward on July 28, 2021, after a 911 call reporting that a 4-year-old would not wake up.
When first responders arrived, they declared the young girl deceased. An autopsy was not conducted at the time of the child's death, but the Sawyer County Coroner drew a sample of her blood and sent it in for analysis.
Court documents indicate that the Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene determined the victim, who had cerebral palsy, had a blood alcohol content of .572 g/100mL at the time of her death. An autopsy was performed following that discovery and the child's cause of death was ruled acute ethanol toxicity with the manner of death being homicide.
Law enforcement interviewed both Smith and Falkner after the findings. Both reportedly admitted to being the only ones home at the time of the victim’s death. They also said they were the ones to feed the victim through her feeding tube.
Smith also stated that she typically was the person who administered medications via the victim’s feeding tube.
According to court documents, the victim was diagnosed at or near birth with severe cerebral palsy. She could not speak or move, and received nutrition and hydration only through a feeding tube.
Falkner was an approved caregiver through Sawyer County Human Services and was paid to care for the victim by Certification for Long Term Care (CLTC.) According to court records, Falkner moved into Smith’s home to help care for the child in August 2020.
Law enforcement maintains that date is significant because before then, medical professionals never saw any indication of abuse during regular doctor visits for her cerebral palsy diagnosis.
After that date, investigators learned of multiple incidents where the victim was either hospitalized for trauma or when the victim’s father noticed signs of abuse.
At this time it is unclear why it took months after the child's death for charges to be filed, or whether law enforcement had received reports or was aware of the possible abuse leading up to the victim’s death.
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