Prosecutors have dropped murder charges against a California woman arrested after her baby died during a home birth — and she could be out of prison by January after pleading guilty to child endangerment.
Kelsey Carpenter, 34, faces life behind bars after San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan charged her with “malice” homicide in the November 2020 death of her newborn, The Guardian reported.
The coroner ruled that the death after the home birth was an “accident,” but attributed it to “methamphetamine and buprenorphine exposure and unattended delivery.”
Carpenter underwent drug treatment and was prescribed buprenorphine, an addiction medication recommended by health officials for pregnant patients with opioid use disorder, according to the outlet.
This drug is often prescribed instead of methadone for pregnant women. He told investigators he had been receiving daily treatment for methadone, the San Diego Tribune reported.
Kelsey Carpenter, 34, was acquitted of manslaughter after she passed out during a home birth and woke up to find her baby dead. Kelsey Carpenter/Facebook
Her two previous children were taken from her after she gave birth because each tested positive for drugs.
“I didn’t want to risk losing my third child to the system,” Carpenter said of her decision to give birth at home after calling a midwife, according to the Guardian. “I love my babies and hope to give them a sister.”
But she went into labor earlier than expected and gave birth alone before losing consciousness.
When she woke up, she said she tried CPR on her lifeless baby and called 911 before being hospitalized and then arrested.
The coroner described the tragic incident as “a perinatal death associated with methamphetamine and buprenorphine exposure and unattended delivery,” the newspaper reported.
Police and the medical examiner reportedly acknowledged that the death was “not a homicide,” and that it is not illegal to give birth unsupervised at home and use buprenorphine.
Additionally, a Yale expert who reviewed records for Carpenter’s attorney said the break-in may have caused the death and that there was no evidence that drug use was a factor, according to The Guardian.
Last year, a new California law also specified that a person cannot be prosecuted for conduct during pregnancy that results in miscarriage, stillbirth and perinatal death, which is defined as the death of a baby between 28 weeks of pregnancy and before the first seven days of life.
Still, the San Diego DA went ahead with the controversial manslaughter charge and prosecutors focused on Carpenter’s actions after giving birth — alleging she failed to get the umbilical cord and call 911 fast enough.
An appeals court ruled in July that the state had presented “sufficient reasons” to move forward — “albeit by the slimmest of margins,” the outlet reported.
Last month, Stephan denied murder charges and Carpenter pleaded guilty to one count of child endangerment. He was sentenced to two years in prison, but may be released as soon as January because of the time served, his lawyer said last week.
Carpenter faced life behind bars before charges were dropped and he pleaded guilty to child endangerment. Kelsey Carpenter/Facebook
Carpenter spoke from prison in March about the loss of her baby, whom she named Keira, according to The Guardian.
“I am still shocked and horrified that someone could experience the greatest tragedy of their life and lose a child they loved and wanted so much, and then be charged with such a horrific crime,” he said.
“I cherish the idea of this baby and am fully committed to being the best mother I know how to be. I mourn every day for Kiera,” added the mother.
DA representative Tanya Sierra said in a statement Thursday that Carpenter “is trying to accept responsibility for endangering her newborn baby causing death,” according to the outlet.
“In all criminal matters, the District Attorney’s Office analyzes cases individually to determine whether a particular resolution serves the interests of overall justice balancing aggravating and mitigating factors, as we did in this case,” he added.
Carpenter could be released as soon as January. Kelsey Carpenter/Facebook
Amber Fayerberg, a consulting attorney for Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit group that represents Carpenter, welcomed news of the impending release.
“This means he can start moving forward from the tragedy of losing his son and the tragedy of being wrongly punished by the government,” he said.
Brian White, another of Carpenter’s attorneys, said the mother “shouldn’t have been charged with murder in the first place.”
He added that he hopes to get a counseling certificate to help people struggling with addiction and that he wants to support pregnant women.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
