October 10, 2007 01:26 am
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By Susan Redden
sredden@joplinglobe.com
PINEVILLE, Mo. — A bassinet is being blamed for causing the death of a 4-month-old Jane girl.
B.J. Goodwin, McDonald County coroner, said Katelynn Marie Simon died Sept. 29 of “accidental positional asphyxiation” after she was caught between the rail of the bassinet and the mattress.
The bassinet is marketed by Simplicity Inc., which last month recalled 1 million other baby beds.
A sheriff’s deputy who investigated the case contacted the Consumer Product Safety Commission the day the child died. A federal investigator came to McDonald County to look into the death, according to Deputy Jeff Sutherland.
“We filed a report with them the first day,” Sutherland said Tuesday. “We wanted to get them involved as quickly as possible to get this thing (bassinet) off the market.”
He said the investigator brought a doll similar in size and weight to Katelynn, and that the death was “re-enacted” last Wednesday at the sheriff’s office.
“We had the family there, and the firemen who responded,” Sutherland said. “They re-created it pretty accurately.”
He said the child’s torso became caught in a gap between the rail of the bassinet and the mattress.
“She was feet down and in a position that every time she exhaled, she slipped down a little further,” he said. “She got down far enough that her chest couldn’t expand to breathe.”
Authorities said parents Elizabeth Simon and Chris Priddy reported that they found the baby girl at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 29, and that the child had been fine at a 5 a.m. feeding.
The child was taken by ambulance to Freeman Hospital West in Joplin, where she was pronounced dead.
“The pathologist said it was obvious she had been very well cared for,” Sutherland said. “I hope parents will check their bassinets and stop using it, if it’s that model number.”
The bassinet in question is a Simplicity 4-in-1 model number 3112DOH6 with Winnie the Pooh decorations. The label says it was made in China for the company, which is based in Reading, Pa. Sutherland said the product is available at Wal-Mart and Target stores, and online.
A spokesman for Simplicity refused to comment.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission did not immediately respond to e-mailed questions about the McDonald County case.
The agency last month announced a voluntary recall with Simplicity Inc. of about a million cribs. According to a release from the agency, the drop-side can detach from the crib, which can create a dangerous gap and lead to the entrapment and suffocation of infants.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Review board
B.J. Goodwin, McDonald County coroner, said the child’s death will be the subject of a meeting of the county’s Child Death Review Board. Such reviews, involving the coroner, and representatives of the prosecuting attorney’s office and the sheriff’s office, are a requirement of state law, he noted.
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