The infant, given the alias Mary, died in the home of her drug-taking parents in Liverpool, England in July 2013, according to the Independent. A review board recently published a report based on events that occurred between August 2011 and the baby's death. Children's Social Care was alerted to situations in the household on five occasions.
The Liverpool Safeguarding Children Board, chaired by Howard Cooper, concluded that foreseeing Mary's fatal outcome "is difficult to achieve with any meaningful degree of accuracy," according to the Independent. "It cannot be inferred that child Mary's death was preventable, but there are lessons to be learned for all the agencies involved with this family about multi-agency working."
Mary, a premature infant, was the youngest child of a family of four. At the time of her death, her mother (referred to as AB) was 30, her father (called CD in the report) was age 33, and her siblings were ages one, eight and 10.
A pathologist that assessed Mary noted that the small amounts of cocaine, tramadol and mirtazapine could have been from environmental contamination or could have been transferred during resuscitation attempts, according to the Independent. The pathologist deemed the drugs did not contribute to the infant's death.
Police found empty beer cans, drugs and a syringe in the home after Mary's death. AB admitted that cocaine and marijuana is used in the home, according to the Independent.
