An Indiana woman has been charged with reckless homicide and neglect of a dependent following the 2023 death of her 2-week-old baby. Aaliyah Lykins is alleged to have fallen asleep while breastfeeding her infant daughter in bed on October 9, 2023. When she awoke, the baby was in cardiac arrest, and the infant was not breathing by the time first responders arrived. She was pronounced dead soon after at a hospital.
The October 2023 incident is the second time Lykins has lost a child, as the Muncie woman also had a 2-month-old son who died during co-sleeping in October 2020.
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The mother referenced her first child's death.
Lykins called 911 to report the incident, according to court documents obtained by Fox 59. First responders noted that the baby was “found to be limp, with no signs of respiration” when they arrived.
Court documents allege that Lykins said “Oh no, I did it again” to EMS personnel at the scene, apparently in reference to the 2020 death of her 2-month-old son.
Lykins was not charged in the 2020 death.
In the probable cause affidavit obtained by Fox 59, police noted that “Aaliyah Lykins was fully aware of the danger of co-sleeping with her infant … as she had a prior born child die while co-sleeping.” She was not charged in the death of her son but reportedly told authorities at the time “that she should not have placed (her son) in bed with her, and that she knew it was wrong.”
The mother has had other brushes with the law.
Lykins was charged with domestic battery and leaving the scene of a traffic accident resulting in serious bodily injury after a June 2020 incident in which she allegedly hit her boyfriend with a car, the Muncie Star Press reported. The couple were reportedly arguing and she allegedly struck him in the face while she was driving. After he got out of the car, she reversed and hit him, resulting in injuries that required “extensive medical procedures” and transport by ambulance to a nearby hospital. She also hit two parked cars before leaving.
Lykins was 18 years old at the time. She was also six months pregnant with the child who would die while co-sleeping in October 2020.
Delaware County Jail records indicated that the now 21-year-old Lykins was being held without bond and her trial date was still pending.
