An infant's parents were charged with involuntary manslaughter and second degree child abuse on Tuesday after the three-month old died in June this year. The prosecutors alleged that the parents kept an "unsafe sleep environment" for the child which resulted in her death. The parent's preliminary examination of the case is yet to be conducted.
The Wayne County Prosecutor charged the parents, Allen Abel and Kimberly Davidson, after the death of Makenna Abel, their three-month-old daughter.
Grieving parents were intoxicated during child's death
The Livonia police responded to a call about an unresponsive infant in 19300 block of Rensellor on June 15. The baby was pronounced dead at the Beaumont Hospital in Farmington Hills. A spokesman said that the medical examiner from the Oakland County said that the cause of death would be "position compression asphyxia with oral and nasal blockage".
According to a report in the Detroit News, Lt. Charles Lister said that the death happened under the care of the parents and that they believed that alcohol was a factor. The baby was said to be under the care of her intoxicated parents when the incident occurred. Reports showed that Abel had high levels of alcohol in his bloodstream when he was tested just hours after the infant's death.
Abel had previously entered a plea deal and was serving a probation term for operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The investigators believe that he was most likely intoxicated during the child's death. Abel had gotten into a fight while he was intoxicated during his daughter's funeral with his nephew. Abel is serving a sentence with an early release set in July 2022 and a full release date set in July 2024.
Conviction on manslaughter and second degree abuse
Allen Abel is in the Bellamy Creek Correctional Facility for violations of his probationary period while Davidson has turned herself in to the police and was given a $20,000/10% bond.
The conviction on involuntary manslaughter could give the parents up to 15 years in prison while second degree child abuse could give them nearly 10 years in prison. "At the end of the day, they are going to be defendants in this case, but they are also grieving parents, so it's complicated," Lister said to Detroit News. "There's no winners in this case. It's a tragedy all the way around." Baby suffocation from co-sleeping is a common thing that happens in the USA. The records show that there are around 3500 deaths per year in US due to this.
