Death Of One-Month Old in Seminole Appears Accidental
Posted: February 24, 2015 – 9:30PM
Correction: February 25, 2015 – 8:30AM. Child was not transported via Bayflite as indicated in the information provided by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office
At approximately 8:40 AM on Thursday, February 19, 2015, crews from Seminole Fire Rescue Department were dispatched along with Sunstar Paramedics to a report of an infant who was not breathing. The incident occurred at a private home located at 14291 Passage Way in Seminole.
Arriving crews found 1 month-old Chloe Gibbons unresponsive as her mother, Nafisa Gibbons and grandmother administered CPR. The child was rushed to Largo Medical Center Indian Rock Campus where the child was revived. The Critical Care Transport unit from Sunstar Paramedics later transported the infant to All Children’s Hospital where she later died at about 10 AM.
Deputies from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office arrived along with detectives from the Crimes Against Children Unit to conduct an investigation into the incident.
According to a press release by Cecilia Barreda, Public Information Coordinator for the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, detectives interviewed the child’s mother. During the interview, she told investigators she had accidentally fallen asleep with the baby at approximately 6:30 AM in her bed; and that when she woke up, she discovered the infant lying face up and unresponsive. Chloe had been sleeping by herself in a bassinet and Gibbons only brought the child into her bed because she was crying. This is not a situation where Gibbons had intended to “sleep” with Chloe. The investigation at the scene did not reveal any evidence of child abuse or neglect.
Through their continued investigation detectives have determined that the death of the child appears to be an accidental asphyxiation. The Medical Examiner’s Office will make a final determination of cause and manner of death.
According to the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office, at the time of Chloe’s birth in January 2015, Gibbons tested positive for cocaine and Chloe exhibited signs of drug withdrawal. Because the mother tested positive for drugs at the child’s birth, the PCSO Child Protection Investigation Division (CPID) was contacted and initiated an investigation. There were no allegations, or evidence of child abuse or neglect other than the drug use by the mother.
Upon discharge from the hospital, CPID stated there was no evidence that Gibbons could not appropriately care for her daughter and Chloe remained in the care of her mother. The CPID investigation was open at the time of Chloe’s death so that Gibbons could be referred to follow-up services regarding her drug use.
Gibbons tested negative for cocaine on February 19, 2015, the day Chloe was found unresponsive and there is no evidence that drug use by Gibbons played any role in Chloe’s death.
This was the second infant death on that morning. The first was a 3 month-old beaten and killed by her father in Pinellas Park. Information on that story can be found HERE.
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