20-Year-Old Foster Mother Arrested in Death of Foster Daughter; Admitted to Dropping, Shaking Baby11-Month Old Girl Dies From Blunt Force Trauma in 20-Year-Old Foster Mother’s Care
11-Month-Old Girl Dies in Foster Care; 20-Year-Old Foster Mother Admitted to Dropping, Shaking Baby
Baby Taken Away From Biological Parents Because Father Uses Marijuana; Dies in Foster Parents’ Care
20-Year-Old Foster Mother Arrested in Death of Foster Daughter; Admitted to Dropping, Shaking Baby
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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—An 11-month old baby girl had died as a result of injuries she sustained while under the care of state-approved foster parents.
Sydney Danielle White, 20, told investigators she “accidentally dropped” the infant, Angel Lane Place, on the floor on Sept 12.
According to an arrest affidavit, White said that Angel would not stop screaming on the morning of the Sept. 15. She said that she grabbed the baby “by the neck with both hands and shook her multiple times.” White said that after one of her children came into the room and told her to stop, she put Angel to sleep.
In a statement, police said that White noted that the baby “became lethargic and wouldn’t wake up, but that later she appeared to be doing better.” Later that night, White took Angel to the hospital “when Angel’s right side became stiff and she was unresponsive.”
The coroner at the Aurora Children’s hospital ruled the cause of death as “blunt force trauma to the head” and ruled the death a homicide.
White has been charged with child abuse resulting in death and is in the Mesa County jail on a $100,000 bond.
On Tuesday, 7 News Investigator Theresa Marchetta spoke with Angel’s biological mother, Tierra Place. Place said that Angel had been removed from her care because she and her husband fought. Additionally, Place said that her husband had told human services that he uses marijuana.
“This is like losing her twice,” Place said. “I don’t know how someone could possibly do that to a baby.”
As 7 News Denver reports, Place said that her brother is married to White, and she approved of Angel being placed with the couple.
Angel’s biological father, Ted Place, is threatening to sue Mesa County.
Ted said he had seen photos and videos of his daughter and noted “I was okay with the situation she was in.”
“And then, all of a sudden, I had just found out that your daughter is in urgent care in Denver, Colorado, and you need to come there. I just want Mesa County to pay for what they’ve done,” Ted said.
According to The Free Thought Project, there is no record of violence between Ted and Tierra Place.
While there is no national count on how many parents lose custody of their kids each year due to marijuana use, Keith Stroup, founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) said that his team gets calls “three or four times a week from people who have lost custody of their children because they tested positive at birth or in a situation where parents are feuding over custody.”
Sources: The Free Thought Project, 7 News Denver
Photo Source: 7 News Denver
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