Kansas City mother charged after 2-year-old child found dead with amphetamines in his system
08/19/2022 11:37 am PDT
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (TCD) -- A 36-year-old mother faces charges after her 2-year-old child was found dead with amphetamines in his system.
According to Jackson County court documents, on Aug. 17, Kansas City Police Department officers responded to the 6500 block of Paseo Boulevard to perform a welfare check. The caller reportedly told dispatchers a child at the home was killed, and his mother didn’t take any steps to prevent the death.
Authorities were reportedly able to contact multiple occupants after numerous attempts and asked them to leave the residence. One of the occupants was identified as Michaela Chism, the deceased victim’s mother, according to court documents.
Inside the home, police reportedly located one of Chism’s children, a 3-year-old juvenile male, asleep on the floor between a bathroom and bedroom. He was carried out with no injuries. Chism’s other child was found unresponsive lying on a bed with a blanket covering his body, court documents said.
The child was reportedly pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities searched the home and found multiple uncapped used and new syringes, multiple glass pipes used for drugs, multiple glass smoking devices, and multiple strips of foil with burned residue around the home, according to court documents.
Additionally, the home was allegedly covered with food in various stages of decomposition, and a glass pipe was recovered under part of a cheeseburger in the dining room.
The deceased child’s body was transported to the Jackson County Medical Examiner’s Office, and they reportedly found amphetamines in his system.
Chism was taken into custody. During an interview, court documents said Chism told investigators she lived in the home for two weeks and said that she and the other occupants in the home consumed methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Chism reportedly slept on the living room couch and chair with her two sons. One day, Chism allegedly noticed that her child was not moving, and she moved her deceased son to the bedroom sometime after police arrived for the welfare check. She reportedly panicked and placed him in the bed.
According to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office, Chism was charged with two counts of first-degree endangering the welfare of a child. Prosecutors said additional charges are possible and requested a $150,000 cash bond.
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