Woman who drank liters of whiskey while on ‘bender’ charged with manslaughter in newborn’s death
Minneapolis, MN (WCCO) — A Rogers woman has been charged in the 2018 death of her newborn baby, according to charges filed in Hennepin County Court.
Twenty-nine-year-old Rianna Marie Cameron was charged Wednesday with two counts of second-degree manslaughter.
According to the criminal complaint, officers with the Rogers Police Department were called to a townhome in Rogers at about 8:39 p.m. on Dec. 30, on a report of a non-responsive infant. The child’s father called police after he found Cameron disoriented in an upstairs bedroom, along with the newborn baby girl who was lying at the foot of the bed with her umbilical cord still attached to her mother.
When officers entered the home, they found two small children, a 2-year-old and a 3-year-old, in the first-floor family room left unattended. After hearing a male voice coming from upstairs, officers entered the master bedroom on the second floor where they found Cameron and the newborn who was purple in color and appeared to not be breathing, the complaint said.
Officers began life-saving measures on the child until paramedics arrived to transport her to a hospital. The baby was pronounced dead at 9:39 p.m. An autopsy later revealed that the baby died due to “complications of acute ethanol intoxication and unsupported delivery,” the complaint said.
According to the complaint, Cameron told police that she had been on a “bender” and had been drinking since 5 p.m. that night. She told investigators that she had drank about a liter of whiskey. Cameron was 34-weeks pregnant.
The 29-year-old has “a lengthy chemical dependency and child protection history,” the complaint said. Cameron has been civilly committed for alcohol addiction three times since 2012.
If convicted, Cameron could serve up to 10 years behind bars.
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