Prosecutors have dropped a murder charge against a California woman who was arrested after her baby died during a home birth, and she may be released from prison in January after pleading guilty to child endangerment.
Kelsey Carpenter, 34, faced life behind bars after San Diego District Attorney Summer Stephan charged her with “malice” murder in the death of her newborn in November 2020, reported The Guardian.
A coroner ruled the death after a home birth an “accident,” but attributed it to “exposure to methamphetamine and buprenorphine and unsupervised delivery.”
Carpenter had been in drug treatment and was prescribed buprenorphine, an addiction drug that health officials have recommended for pregnant patients with opioid use disorder, according to the outlet.
The drug is often prescribed instead of methadone to pregnant women. She told investigators that she had been receiving daily methadone treatments, the San Diego Tribune reported.
Kelsey Carpenter, 34, was acquitted of a murder charge after she fainted during a home birth and woke up to find her baby dead. Kelsey Carpintero/Facebook
Her two previous children were taken away from her after giving birth because each of them tested positive for drugs.
“I didn’t want to risk losing my third child to the system,” Carpenter said of her decision to give birth at home after contacting a midwife, according to The Guardian. “I love my babies and I was hoping to give them a sibling.”
But she went into labor earlier than expected and gave birth alone before losing consciousness.
When she woke up, she said she tried to give CPR to her lifeless baby and called 911 before being hospitalized and later arrested.
The coroner described the tragic incident as a “perinatal death associated with exposure to methamphetamine and buprenorphine and an unsupervised delivery,” the news outlet reported.
Police and the medical examiner reportedly acknowledged that the death “was not a homicide” and that it was not illegal to have an unsupervised home birth and use buprenorphine.
Additionally, a Yale expert who reviewed records for Carpenter’s lawyers said a breakup likely caused the death and there was no evidence that drug use was a factor, according to The Guardian.
Last year, a new California law also determined that a person cannot be charged for conduct during pregnancy that results in miscarriages, stillbirths, and perinatal deaths, described as the death of a baby between 28 weeks gestation and before the first seven days of life.
And yet, the San Diego district attorney moved forward with the controversial murder charge and prosecutors focused on Carpenter’s actions after the birth, alleging that she failed to secure the umbilical cord and call 911 quickly enough.
An appeals court ruled in July that the state had presented “sufficient cause” to move forward, “albeit by the slightest margin,” the outlet reported.
Last month, Stephan dismissed the murder charge and Carpenter pleaded guilty to a single count of child endangerment. She was sentenced to two years in prison, but she could be released in January because of the time she has already served, her attorneys said last week.
Carpenter faced life behind bars before the charge was dropped and he pleaded guilty to child endangerment. Kelsey Carpintero/Facebook
Carpenter spoke from jail in March about the loss of her baby, whom she named Keira, according to The Guardian.
“I am still stunned and horrified that a person could suffer the greatest tragedy of their life and lose a beloved and long-awaited child, and then be accused of such a horrible crime,” she reportedly said.
“I had entertained the idea of this baby and was fully committed to becoming the best mother I knew how to be. “I cry every day for Kiera,” the mother added.
District Attorney Rep. Tanya Sierra said in a statement Thursday that Carpenter “tried to accept responsibility for endangering her newborn and causing her death,” according to the outlet.
“In all criminal matters, the Prosecutor’s Office analyzes cases individually to determine whether a particular resolution serves the interests of general justice by balancing aggravating and mitigating factors, as we did in this case,” he added.
Carpenter could be released in January. Kelsey Carpintero/Facebook
Amber Fayerberg, a consulting attorney with Pregnant Justice, a nonprofit group that represented Carpenter, welcomed the news of the impending release.
“This means that she will be able to begin to overcome the tragedy of losing her son and the tragedy of being unfairly penalized by the State,” she said.
Brian White, another attorney for Carpenter, said the mother “should never have been charged with murder in the first place.”
She added that she hopes to obtain a counseling certificate to help people struggling with addiction and would like to advocate for pregnant women.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn