Woman charged after toddler dies from being pinned between a card table and Pack-‘n-Play
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IDAHO FALLS — An Idaho Falls woman has been charged for the death of a toddler boy she was babysitting.
On May 1, the Idaho Falls Police Department arrived at a home on the 2000 block of Saddle Court. According to an affidavit of probable cause obtained by EastIdahoNews.com, 49-year-old Angie Kay Young told officers she found the 23-month-old boy she was caring for unresponsive. The child was pinned between a card table and Pack-‘n-Play.
By the time police arrived around 2:30 p.m., the child, whose name is redacted from court documents, was already taken from the house by Emergency Medical Services. Investigators went to a bedroom downstairs where the child was found and saw a square card table with multiple blankets on-top. When police weighed the blankets, they weighed 24 pounds.
Detectives took Young to the police station where they asked her what happened. During the interview, she said she put the toddler down for a nap just after 1 p.m. She said she placed the card table with blankets on top of the Pack-n’-Play to prevent him from climbing out. The boy eventually fell asleep.
When the child woke up, Young said she kept working on something for approximately 15 to 20 minutes. Young told investigators she heard the boy making noise for about 10 minutes before there was 10 minutes of silence.
“She went down to get (the boy) and found him unresponsive,” according to an affidavit of probable cause. “Angie described (the boy) as hanging outside the pack and play with his head/neck trapped between the pack and play and card table.”
Court documents indicate it appears the toddler was able to lift the card table enough to climb out and get his body swung out of the Pack-n’-Play before the table came back down “cutting off blood and oxygen to (the boy’s) brain.”
“With Angie’s statement and evidence found on scene and through the autopsy, it is apparent that Angie created a circumstance that ultimately led to (the boy’s) death,” the investigator writes.
The boy died 10 days before his second birthday. Young is now charged with felony involuntary manslaughter.
Under Idaho law, you can be charged with involuntary manslaughter when a person dies while you are involved “in the perpetration of or attempt to perpetrate any unlawful act.” Prosecutors allege in a criminal complaint that the toddler died while in the “perpetuation of or attempt to commit the unlawful act of injury to child” by Young.
The case against Young was filed in August and Young was summoned for an initial appearance on Monday afternoon. A preliminary hearing for Young is set for Sept. 29 before Magistrate Judge Jason Walker, where he will decide if the case advances to the District Court.
Since Young was not taken into custody, no bail has been set in the case. If convicted Young could be ordered to spend up to 10 years in prison.