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Infant found dead in bassinet
By BRADY DENNIS, Times Staff Writer DADE CITY -- Dorothy Caldwell said she fed and burped her 3-month-old niece and then put the baby to sleep in a bassinet. She said she checked on the child four or five times before going to bed at 9:30 p.m. Monday. Despite the 16-year-old's attentiveness, the infant's mother found her daughter "unresponsive" when she came home from work at 11:15 p.m. Crystal Caldwell, 19, arrived from her job at Zephyr Haven Nursing Home to find Krysten Caldwell "covered with pillows" in her bassinet. She told deputies the baby's face was "stuck" in a pillow. Despite efforts to revive her, the infant was pronounced dead an hour later at Pasco Regional Medical Center. Pasco County sheriff's deputies reported the incident Thursday. "We have found no evidence of foul play," sheriff's spokesman Jon Powers said. "There doesn't appear to be anything criminal. Right now it is pending a toxicology test." Reports state that Crystal Caldwell's sister, Dorothy, had been babysitting Krysten at their house at 36816 Indian Lake Cemetery Road in Dade City. Dorothy Caldwell told deputies that she fed Krysten her normal baby formula between 4:30 and 6 p.m. She said she put the baby in her bassinet about 7 p.m. She said she put the child on her stomach with a pillow under her head and with her head facing left. She also put a pillow behind her head, reports stated. Dorothy Caldwell said she checked on the child four or five times before going to bed. After Crystal Caldwell found her baby lifeless, she screamed and woke her parents, Earl and Permelia Caldwell. Earl Caldwell told deputies the family started driving to the hospital, and he tried to resuscitate the baby along the way. Family members passed the Sheriff's Office station on the way and saw a deputy outside. They stopped and asked for help. Deputies called emergency workers, meanwhile performing CPR on the baby without success. Paramedics took Krysten to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead, reports stated. Efforts to reach family members were not successful Thursday.
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From today's Pasco Times Jan Glidewell |
