A preliminary hearing has been set for Destinee Rae Griffin-Bailey of Franklin County, Pennsylvania, who was taken into custody and charged in connection with the death of her 6-day-old son.
Emergency medical service workers rushed to the home.
According to the York Dispatch, EMS were called in reports of an unresponsive child, but despite their efforts, the newborn couldn’t be revived. He was pronounced dead at about 1:49 p.m. on May 26, 2021.
An autopsy report revealed the boy, later identified as Xander Ray Reed, died as a result of positional asphyxia. WJAC noted that’s when a baby is placed in a position where it can’t breathe.
An investigation led authorities to take a closer look at Griffin-Bailey.
"Information was gleaned during the investigation that the mother of the victim, Destinee Griffin-Bailey negligently contributed to the death of the victim," the police report read.
People reports the mom told authorities that she’d taken drugs before giving her son his bottle earlier that day.
She showed authorities how she sat cross legged and then "slumped over" her son during his feeding.
She later told police that when she woke up, she found her son unresponsive — with his bottle still in his mouth. Authorities later confirmed that Griffin-Bailey had fentanyl and other substances in her blood at the time of the incident. The Chambersburg Public Opinion called the mixture “scramble” — a combination of heroin and fentanyl according to the US Department of Justice.
The mom also reportedly confessed to using drugs throughout her pregnancy.
Charging documents state that Xander had withdrawal symptoms after he was born and Griffin-Bailey was allegedly warned that taking drugs while feeding her son "would affect (her) cognitive abilities and decision making," by staff at the hospital.
"The actions of the defendant prior to the feeding of the victim, and the position in which she held the victim while feeding him, contributed to the death of the victim once the effects of the illicit narcotics that were ingested by the defendant took hold," charging documents state.
The mom was charged with involuntary manslaughter, a second-degree felony on April 4, 2022.
Griffin-Bailey was arraigned on Monday by Magisterial District Judge Kelly Rock. Rock set the mom’s bail at $150,000.
She has been in jail since shortly after her child's death. She was previously charged with two felony counts of endangering the welfare of a child and had been unable to post the $100,000 bail.
It’s unclear if the mom has entered a plea as of this reporting or if she’s retained a lawyer. She is due back in court on April 12.
