SPOKANE, Wash. -- Sheriff's investigators said Thursday that no criminal charges are expected against the parents of a 9-month-old girl who died in the melted ice of a beer-cooling bucket.
The parents of Aubrey Smith had placed ice in a five-gallon plastic bucket to cool beer on Tuesday night, and left the bucket next to their bed. The ice melted, leaving several inches of water at the bottom of the bucket, Sheriff's Detective Mark Henderson said in a news release.
The child apparently crawled off the edge of the bed early Wednesday morning and fell headfirst into the bucket, Henderson said.
The father tried to revive the girl, as did paramedics, sheriff's spokesman Dave Reagan said.
The investigation was continuing but Henderson said Thursday there is no evidence of criminal activity and the death will likely be ruled an accident.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office ruled asphyxia was the cause of death, but Henderson said medical investigators could not determine if the child died of suffocation from the plastic bag of ice, from being upside-down in the bucket, or by drowning.
Reagan declined to identify the parents, who had been living in the basement of the Spokane Valley home for the past two weeks after arriving from South Dakota.
The deputy prosecutor who handles child deaths in the Spokane County prosecutor's office was not available Thursday to comment on the case.
The parents of Aubrey Smith had placed ice in a five-gallon plastic bucket to cool beer on Tuesday night, and left the bucket next to their bed. The ice melted, leaving several inches of water at the bottom of the bucket, Sheriff's Detective Mark Henderson said in a news release.
The child apparently crawled off the edge of the bed early Wednesday morning and fell headfirst into the bucket, Henderson said.
The father tried to revive the girl, as did paramedics, sheriff's spokesman Dave Reagan said.
The investigation was continuing but Henderson said Thursday there is no evidence of criminal activity and the death will likely be ruled an accident.
The Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office ruled asphyxia was the cause of death, but Henderson said medical investigators could not determine if the child died of suffocation from the plastic bag of ice, from being upside-down in the bucket, or by drowning.
Reagan declined to identify the parents, who had been living in the basement of the Spokane Valley home for the past two weeks after arriving from South Dakota.
The deputy prosecutor who handles child deaths in the Spokane County prosecutor's office was not available Thursday to comment on the case.
sucks for them, bet they wont be drinking for at least a week.
at least they can have another baby and try again, it was only 9 months old.
if the woman gets pregnant again today they will really only have lost 18 months of a child.
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