Prison ordered in infant death case

SANDPOINT — Jurisdiction was retained Monday in the case of a Wallace woman whose baby tested positive for methamphetamine after he died.

That means Samantha Loraine Randel will spend up to a year in state prison before she can be considered for release onto probation. She pleaded guilty to felony injury to a child following the death of the 3-month-old in April of last year.

The child’s cause of death, however, remains elusive. A medical examiner and a specialist in pediatric child abuse consulted by the state were both unable to make that determination.

“That made it a very hard case for us,” Bonner County Deputy Prosecutor Katie Murdock said in explanation of the state’s decision to pursue neglect and abuse charges against Randel.

A probable cause affidavit alleged that Randel used the addictive central nervous system stimulant before, during and after her pregnancy. But Randel’s counsel, Deputy Public Defender Susie Jensen, said Randel denies using the drug during her pregnancy or while breastfeeding.

Moreover, Jensen argued that there was no conclusive link between the use of the drug and her child’s demise, which leaves open the possibility that sudden infant death syndrome was to blame.

“There’s no determination that methamphetamine found in (the boy’s) body had anything to do with his death. There simply is no evidence that could lend weight to that,” said Jensen.

Randel, 26, told sheriff’s investigators that her son was placed face up on a breastfeeding pillow that was placed between her and the child’s father. When she awoke the next morning, the child was face down on the mattress and unresponsive. Attempts to revive the infant were not successful.

At the time of the death, the former couple was living in abject poverty in a single-wide trailer on Sierra Lane near Spirit Lake. Nearly a half-dozen people were living in the home, which did not have a working bathroom or refrigerator.

Murdock recommended a suspended prison term of up to five years with retained jurisdiction or 120 days of local incarceration. Jensen agreed with a period of local jail, but argued that 120 days was too excessive.

An emotional Randel wept during the hearing and apologized when it was her turn to address the court.

“Nothing that happens will be any worse than what I already put myself through,” said Randel.

First District Judge Barbara Buchanan acknowledged the suffering Randel and her family have endured.

“This is a horrible tragedy, but I also look at the fact that a life was lost,” Buchanan said.

Buchanan declined to impose local incarceration because she would not have access to substance abuse treatment programs that are available in an Idaho Department of Correction setting. Randel reported that she stopped using meth after her son died, but Buchanan noted that Randel was not undergoing drug testing and that it’s rare for intravenous meth users to simply abstain from using the drug.

“I know you say you’re not using meth — and I hope you’re not — but you haven’t done any testing,” said Buchanan.

If Randel is deemed unsuitable for probation, she could be made to serve a one- to three-year prison term.