Tower Health Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania (WCAU/YouTube).
The day after a woman gave birth inside a Pennsylvania hospital, a nurse checking on the child found him pale and limp, and authorities allege the parents are responsible.
Kevin Canaan, 28, and Yeniffer Tavarez-Cepeda, 25, have both been charged with criminal homicide, aggravated assault, and endangering the welfare of a child, court records reviewed by Law&Crime show. They are being held in the Berks County Prison without bail.
On May 2, a baby boy was born to Canaan and Tavarez-Cepeda in the maternity ward of Tower Health Reading Hospital in West Reading, Pennsylvania. The area is about 60 miles northwest of Philadelphia.
As a nurse went to observe the child in the hours following the birth, though, she noticed something strange.
"She observed him to be white in color, flaccid," and having "signs of petechiae," or spots of bleeding under the skin, according to a criminal complaint obtained by local NBC affiliate WCAU. The baby "was also grunting when breathing and the breathing was loud and agonal."
The nurse reported her findings — as well as her concerns about the father's "behavior." Police were contacted, and they arrived at the hospital suspecting possible child abuse.
The child was transferred to the hospital's neonatal intensive care unit before being flown to another hospital for treatment because his condition was worsening. He was pronounced dead the next day.
"The injuries were described by the pathologist as … almost just pushing his organs so hard that it, they were up against the child's spinal cord," Berks County District Attorney John Adams told the area outlet. "It was a, just a horrific way for this child to be treated."
Two days after the infant's death, an autopsy was performed, and it found that the baby died due to multiple traumatic injuries. The death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators determined that Canaan and Tavarez-Cepeda were "the only individuals inside the hospital room with the victim" in the time frame when the child was hurt.
"The parents said, 'oh yes, we saw he was in distress,' but they never alerted medical personnel, they never hit the buzzer," the DA added. "We have conducted numerous interviews of both individuals, and we may not ever know who actually caused the injuries, but what we do know is that nobody even tried to stop the baby from being injured."
The parents were later arrested; they are scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing on June 1.