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WORCESTER— A 2-month-old girl remains on life support in the hospital after her father apparently rolled over on her while they were sleeping in the same bed in their city apartment two weeks ago.
The incident, which is still under investigation by police and the district attorney’s office, occurred June 10 at an apartment at 208 Pilgrim Ave., in the Grafton Hill neighborhood, that the father, David Letourneau, shares with Sara Elliott and their two young children.
The girl, suffering from diminished brain function, was taken by ambulance to UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus after the 5:40 p.m. incident.
“She’s in very grave, very grave condition,” Lt. William O’Connor, head of the police special crimes unit, said yesterday after a meeting of investigators who have been working on the case.
Lt. O’Connor said police investigators have been consulting with the state Department of Social Services, the district attorney’s office, and the hospital. No charges have been filed.
The DSS has taken custody of the girl and her 1-year-old brother.
Alison R. Goodwin, a DSS spokeswoman, said any decisions about whether the girl should be kept on life support will be made in juvenile court, and a court hearing will be held soon to determine if she is to be kept alive by extraordinary means.
“This is absolutely the court’s decision,” she said.
The DSS came under criticism in 2006 for seeking to remove life support from Haleigh Poutre, a 10-year-old girl who lapsed into a coma and was being kept alive by artificial means in a Springfield hospital after allegedly being beaten by her adoptive mother and stepfather.
The DSS, which had custody of the girl, eventually won court approval to withdraw life support, but Haleigh soon began to breathe on her own and displayed signs of responsiveness. Her condition later stabilized to some extent.
A message left at the home of Ms. Elliott and Mr. Letourneau was not returned.
Ms. Goodwin characterized the Worcester episode as “an incident of co-sleeping,” or bed-sharing between adults and children.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has noted reports of infants being suffocated by adults lying over them, particularly when the adult is under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
At least one study cited by the academy showed that bed-sharing with multiple family members in an adult bed can be hazardous for an infant.
Contact Shaun Sutner by e-mail at ssutner@telegram.com.
Father rolls on girl, 2 months, in bed sharing... Child remains on life support
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With next week's petition deadline just around the corner, backers of an initiative that would allow a lethal drug overdose as a medical treatment option are increasing their signature-gathering efforts around the state, including Central Washington. At the same time, Yakima Valley churches, particularly the Roman Catholic Church, are countering the campaign with their own education and awareness crusades. "Initiative 1000 is an attack on our most fundamental beliefs and teaching, and placing it on the November ballot would contradict our proclamation of the gospel of life," the Most Rev. Carlos Sevilla, bishop of the Diocese of Yakima, said in a recent memo. ~Snip~ The initiative comes two years after the death of Terri Schiavo, the 41-year-old brain-damaged woman who became the centerpiece of a national right-to-die battle. Doctors removed a feeding tube that had sustained Schiavo for more than a decade over the objections of her family, who had tried to get the U.S. Supreme Court to stop the action. Schiavo's husband was her guardian and maintained she would not have wanted to continue in a "persistent vegetative state." I-1000 is closely modeled after an Oregon law that was approved by voters in 1994 and took effect in 1997. Washington's proposal would let doctors prescribe lethal doses of narcotics to terminally ill patients who ask to end their own lives. Patients would self-administer the drugs........
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