mother in Cincinnati, Ohio, is facing charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering children after prosecutors say her baby died as a result of “co-sleeping.”
Brooke Hunter was indicted by a grand jury on Wednesday after her 6-week-old daughter died on June 22 after co-sleeping with her, Amy Clausing, an Assistant Prosecutor at the Hamilton County Prosecutor’s Office, told local news outlet WCPO-9.
According to the outlet, Hunter was warned of the dangers of sharing a bed with her infant a year ago after the death of her first child. Because she was warned the second child’s death was considered a homicide, Clausing told WCPO-9.
In a recent June statement, the American Academy of Pediatrics said it does not recommend bedsharing, a form of co-sleeping, under any circumstances.
Infants are five to ten times more at risk of sleep-related death when new parents bed share with infants younger than four months old, according to the statement.
According to the AAP, 3500 infants die annually in the United States from sleep-related infant deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome and accidental suffocation and strangulation in bed.
The AAP added that the highest rates of infant sleep-related deaths occur within the first six months.
“It is recommended that infants sleep in the parents’ room, close to the parent’s bed, but on a separate surface designed for infants, ideally for at least the first 6 months,” the release added.