Andrea Todd Have Her Baby While in Jail

WYOMING, Mich. — A Wyoming couple whose underweight son was removed from their care last year considering of a "substantial hazard of harm'' were arraigned today for the male child'due south March dehydration expiry.

The death of 19-month-old Yurik Michael Birkenmeyer comes three years after the couple lost some other child due to what investigators called "unsafe sleep conditions.'' No charges were filed in that case.

Alexander D. Birkenmeyer, 30, and Andrea M. Todd, 26, were arraigned Tuesday in Wyoming District Court for second-degree murder, involuntary manslaughter and second-degree kid corruption. If convicted, they face up to life in prison.

Judge Pablo Cortes set bond for the pair at $750,000. They will render to Wyoming District Court for a probable cause conference side by side week.

Investigators say the couple caused the child's decease "by the grossly negligent failure to perform legal duty; failure to provide water.''

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The kid's cause of death is listed every bit "dehydration due to fail by caregivers,'' co-ordinate to a probable cause affidavit in Wyoming District Courtroom.

"Andrea first said she got home from work and heard Yurik cry and gave him food/water, but later said this wasn't true,'' Wyoming Detective Margaret McKinnon wrote in the likely cause affidavit. "She heard him cry and ignored information technology.

"In the morning, she canceled Yurik'southward doc appointment and went back to sleep,'' McKinnon wrote. "Yurik was placed in a very hot room with a space heater next to the bed and he had no water.''

Alexander Birkenmeyer was provided with parenting classes and "educated that as a caregiver, food and water is a necessity,'' McKinnon wrote. "(Birkenmeyer) stated he was up and provided nutrient/water in the morning; this is not possible.''

The boy's March xvi death at the Wyoming apartment comes three years after the couple lost another child to what investigators called "unsafe sleep conditions.''

Birkenmeyer and Todd "previously had a child laissez passer abroad due to unsafe sleep conditions in March 2015,'' according to records in Kent County Circuit Court. In Dec. 2016, they were investigated for improper supervision of Yurik, then an baby, who was left in the care of an 8-yr-erstwhile, courtroom records show.

The child was taken into protective custody in Jan. 2017 afterward a judge adamant he was "at substantial take chances of harm.''

A Children's Protective Services worker on January. 11, 2017, expressed concerns to the parents about Yurik's "extremely depression weight'' and asked the couple to bring him to a medical appointment the following day, court records show.

"Birkenmeyer refused to bring Yurik to the engagement and stated they would no longer be cooperative,'' a Children'southward Protective Services investigator wrote in a Jan. 2017 petition to make the child a temporary ward of the court.

In the petition for removal, the investigator wrote "Yurik's life may be in immediate danger.''

The petition accuses the parents of leaving Yurik "in an unsafe sleeping surroundings repeatedly, propping bottles to feed him, declining to supervise him appropriately, failing to reply to his needs and declining to engage in services to assist with their parenting and Yurik's development.''

"Furthermore, Yurik is approximately six months erstwhile and weights (sic) fourteen pounds and four ounces, which does not annals on the growth chart with no medical reason to explain this,'' the petition from CPS investigator Kayla Hinkle states.

The couple "admitted to CPS that their previous kid passed away from SIDS in March 2015 later on co-sleeping with Alexander Birkenmeyer,'' courtroom records show.

A woman who allowed the couple to stay with her in Kentwood provided investigators with photos "showing Yurik in a basinet filled with blankets and pillows and a bottle near his head,'' courtroom records show.

A judge with Kent Canton Circuit Courtroom's Family Division on Jan. 12, 2017, ordered that the kid be removed from the home and placed in the custody of the Kent County Department of Health and Human Services. The court's jurisdiction over the child was terminated on Oct. half dozen, 2017, and Yurik was released to his parents.

More than than five months later, constabulary and firefighters responded to an flat for a written report of a kid not breathing.

Responding crews establish that the child had already died. The kid's death was investigated for several months, leading to felony warrants against the parents. They were arrested on Monday.

Andrea Todd Have Her Baby While in Jail

Source: https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/07/17/michigan-couple-charged-son-dehydration-death/792372002/

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