What to Know
When you’re the parent of a young baby and you might be feeling super sleep deprived, it may be tempting to set up a little sleep situation with your little one anywhere from your own bed to the living room sofa to try and catch some much-needed winks. The crucial thing to remember is that it’s always best to follow proper sleep safety protocols to ensure everyone remains unharmed throughout the night.
An Indiana mom has pleaded guilty after being charged in February with neglect after her newborn daughter fell asleep in her arms while they were on the sofa. Tragically, this caused the baby to get wedged underneath a couch cushion and suffocate.
A mom fell asleep with her baby in her arms on the sofa and woke up to her suffocated by a couch cushion.
According to Law & Crime, Indiana mother, Quinzena Rancefer, has admitted to being neglectful with her 2-month-old daughter when she fell asleep with her in her arms in March 2024, causing the baby to become wedged underneath a sofa cushion and suffocate.
Rancefer told authorities that her baby normally slept in a bassinet next to the sofa, but that night, she fell asleep in her arms, WPTA reported. The mom told police that her infant fell asleep between her and the back of the sofa “so she wouldn’t fall.”
Rancefer was woken up by her cousin and they found that the baby was not breathing, the news outlet reported. Fort Wayne Police was called to the house after being told that a child was in critical condition. The baby girl later died and her cause of death was ruled as asphyxia “due to overlay and wedging,” per WPTA.
Drugs and drug paraphernalia were found at the home.
According to WPTA, after authorities obtained a search warrant for Rancefer’s apartment, they allegedly found a glass pipe with burnt residue in it, a torch lighter, and a bottle of Gabapentin with the prescription label ripped off.
Police also found “suspected marijuana and other prescription pills like Hydrocodone” at the house, the news outlet reported. On the day when her daughter died, Rancefer was submitted to an oral drug test, which screened positive for amphetamine and methamphetamine, per court documents read by WPTA.
The news outlet also reported that the baby was born drug-exposed as she had THC in her system, although the hospital did not report this to the Department of Child Services, WPTA reported.
The cousin who found the mom and baby recounted horrifying details of that day.
After being asked to re-enact the events from that day with a family case manager, Rancefer was not able to tell them what happened as she became “very emotional” and started “dry-heaving,” per WPTA.
Her cousin was able to share what he found within the residence that day. He said that when he arrived home, he found his cousin lying on the sofa with the baby who was “face down and lying mostly underneath the couch cushion,” the news outlet report.
The cousin recounted that he had a difficult time waking up his cousin and had to hit Rancefer several times. The court records say that when Rancefer was finally awoken and her cousin found that her child was not breathing, she became “hysterical.”
Rancefer pleaded guilty as a part of a plea agreement and was charged with neglect of a dependent causing serious bodily injury.
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