Montco D.A: Baby's '92 death murder, not SIDS | Philadelphia Daily ...

August 23, 2011|BY STEPHANIE FARR, farrs@phillynews.com 215-854-4225

FOR 19 YEARS, 5-month-ancient Ryan Baurley’s death was attributed to something mysterious that steals the lives of babies in the night – sudden-infant-death syndrome, more commonly known as SIDS.

Nearly two decades later, the cause of SIDS remains a mystery, but baby Ryan’s death may no longer be a mystery.

Investigators say that his life was stolen by the one woman who was paid to care for it – his baby-sitter, Melissa Haskell.

Police said that a “concerned citizen” came forward this spring and said that Haskell had admitted to suffocating the child while baby-sitting in Upper Merion on Aug. 26, 1992. Authorities said that they subsequently conducted a wiretap on Haskell and recorded a similar confession.

When the current coroner reopened the files for Ryan Baurley, whose cause of death had been listed as SIDS, he saw peculiar irregularities, including bruising on the baby’s brain and larynx, prosecutors said. The baby also had a blood-alcohol level of .04 percent.

In light of the new information and a review of the autopsy files, the current coroner changed Ryan’s death certificate to list his death as a killing by suffocation and alcohol intoxication.

Montgomery County Deputy District Attorney Christopher Maloney said that Haskell claimed here was alcohol in the baby’s system because his parents had told her to rub whiskey on his gums to ease teething pain.

Maloney said that Haskell was having “significant personal issues” that affected her ability to properly care for the child at the time, and confirmed that one of those issues was drug addiction.

Haskell, 38, of Bridgeport, was arrested Saturday and charged with third-degree murder.

Link:
dental implant centre