By Kathy Chaffin
kchaffin@salisburypost.com
Co-sleeping with an infant was a factor in the May 2, 2008, death of a 10-month-old Salisbury infant, according to Tom Brewer of the Rowan County Department of Social Services.
Brewer, program administrator for the department’s children’s services division, told the Community Child Protection Team Tuesday that was one of the primary findings of a Dec. 11-12 state child fatality review of the death of Emmanuel Campusano Jr. of 923 S. Caldwell St.
The report on the review will not be released to the public until the Salisbury Police Department completes its investigation of the case.
The baby’s father, Emmanuel Campusano Sr., told police the baby was fine when he left him and his then 19-month-old sister at home with their mother, Tana Maria Mings, to go shopping at 10:30 a.m. He said he received a call at 12:38 p.m. informing him EMS had been called for his son.
CPR was administered on the baby en route to the hospital and for 15 minutes after arrival at Rowan Regional Medical Center, but the baby was pronounced dead at 12:37 p.m.
Salisbury Police Chief Mark Wilhelm said then there were no signs of trauma on the baby’s body. An autopsy by the N.C. Medical Examiner’s Office in Charlotte showed no “anatomic cause of death” and confirmed “nonspecific findings of marked pulmonary edema,” according to Lt. Shelia Lingle of the Salisbury Police Department.
Neither Wilhelm nor Lingle could be contacted Tuesday for information on the status of the investigation.
Brewer said the Rowan Board of Social Services is very serious about educating parents on the dangers of co-sleeping with infants. Board Chairman Nilous Avery said this will be one of the areas addressed at the second annual Child Well-Being Roundtable in May.
John Weill, who headed up the review for the state, has taken a new job and will not be presenting the report at an upcoming meeting of the Community Child Protection Team. Brewer said another representative from the state will go over the report for team members.
Brewer said he and Social Services Director Sandra Wilkes and Barbara Sharpe, a supervisor for children’s services, had reviewed the findings of the undisclosed report and developed a response plan. “We are ready to go forward with our plan,” he said.
Co-sleeping also may be a factor in another infant death last month.
Though police did not say whether Latoyia Niccole Myers ó the mother charged with second-degree murder in the Feb. 14, 2009 death of her 2-month-old son ó was sleeping with him, the autopsy report on her other infant son indicated he was co-sleeping with an adult when he died of accidental suffocation.
Zy-marion Dwayne Myers was only 29 days old when he died Nov. 11, 2007. “This situation (co-sleeping with an adult on a makeshift bed on top of a pillow) represents an inappropriate sleeping environment for an infant,” the autopsy report said.
It also noted that a child of that age lying face down on a pillow would not be able to raise his head.
Preliminary autopsy results on her second son, Jyhiem Adam Bacon, indicated the cause of death was suffocation. Salisbury Police responded to the Happy Traveler Inn on the afternoon of Feb. 14 after the mother called 911.
When officers arrived, the baby was not responsive. Emergency medical personnel were unsuccessful in their efforts to revive the baby.
Upon searching the room, investigators found marijuana and cocaine and charged Myers with possession of both controlled substances. She was charged four days later with second-degree murder.
Wilkes said she has not heard yet whether the state will conduct a child fatality review of the case. Legislation passed during Gov. Jim Martin’s term mandated an on-site state child fatality review when the deceased child and its family had received child protective services from the local Social Services department within 12 months of the death.
Rowan’s child protective services was called to investigate the Nov. 11, 2007 death of Zy-marion Dwayne Myers, which happened less than a year before the second infant death. Wilkes said in a Feb. 20 article that the investigation did not substantiate any abuse or neglect.
“It appeared at the time that the child died of natural causes, and so we closed the case,” she said.