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| 3/1/2010 2:27:00 PM | Email this article • Print this article |
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| Weddle |
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Mother jailed after baby nearly suffocates
Authorities say CSL woman was under influence of drugs
Bryce Mayer
A Country Squire Lakes mother is charged with felony neglect after falling asleep and nearly suffocating her infant son on Feb. 14.
Authorities believe the woman may have been under the influence of powerful drugs at the time of the incident.
Nikkiah C. Weddle, 29, was arrested Wednesday, Feb. 24, by Indiana State Police Detective Roger G. Drew on a Jennings County warrant served at Peyton Manning Children's Hospital in Indianapolis following an investigation.
Weddle's 2-month-old son, James, remains in the hospital where he is continuing to receive treatment.
"This is a very serious case," said Jennings County Prosecutor Alan Marshall. "I understand the baby has suffered brain damage, but how much it is too early to tell though this baby has obviously suffered great harm. The woman tested positive for opiates and marijuana in her system."
The infant was transferred last week from an intensive care unit where he had been for over a week to another unit at the children's hospital.
ISP Trooper David Owsley responded to the initial call for medical assistance on Feb. 14.
According to a police report, Weddle got up with her son for a midnight feeding. Weddle told investigators that while trying to burp the baby, she fell asleep lying on a loveseat in the living room with the baby lying across her chest.
At 6 a.m., Weddle's mother-in-law found her asleep with the infant pinned between his mother and the couch, his face pressed into her left side.
The infant was described as unresponsive and having labored breathing during the 911 call.
Rescue 20 personnel responded, treated and transported the baby to the St. Vincent Jennings Hospital's Emergency Department. The infant was then transferred to the Indianapolis hospital.
Toxicology tests indicated Weddle had opiates and marijuana in her blood at the time of the incident, police said.
"We believe the ingestion of the drugs led to this," Marshall said.
Weddle admitted to police she smoked marijuana three weeks earlier and that she had taken hydrocodone.
"Marijuana could stay in your system, but I don't believe hydrocodone or opiates would stay in your system for that length of time. They clear your system more quickly than marijuana does," Marshall said. "Whether or not the hydrocodone was her prescription or not has yet to be determined."
Police reports indicated James was completely healthy at his last check up.
The formal charge against Weddle is neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, a class B felony. Other charges could be added. She was released Saturday from the Jennings County Jail on a $7,550 cash bond.
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