The parents of a 9-month-old infant were arrested after police found their child dead in a motel room Saturday afternoon, according to court documents.
Bobby Dewayne Gipson, 43, and Lisa Frances Lilly, 32, face charges of possession of drug paraphernalia and endangering the welfare of a minor in the second degree, court documents show.
Police were dispatched to the Super 8 Motel at 1287 N. St. Louis St. in Batesville around 2:15 p.m., where they “heard screaming and crying” and were told that an infant in room 214 wasn’t breathing, according to documents.
A paramedic told police that the child “was deceased and it appeared she had been for some time.” Authorities saw that the hotel room “was in complete disarray” and found prescription and over-the-counter pill bottles in the bathroom and by the bed, as well as loose pills on the floor, according to court documents. Police also said they found “two glass smoking devices commonly used to ingest methamphetamine with burnt residue inside them” in the room.
The pair told police they had been living in the motel room, according to court documents.
The child’s parents, Gipson and Lilly, “seemed very confused” and couldn’t tell police what had happened before their child’s death, authorities said. Police said Gipson has a previous history of drug violations and that Lilly has other children who have been taken out of her custody.
In an interview, Lilly said her other children had been taken away “because of her drug use,” documents show.
Lilly said that she had given her baby cold medicine because she had a cough, according to court documents. Police said the label on the bottle of children’s cough medicine found in the hotel room specified that it should not be given to children under the age of 6.
Gipson told police that he had taken his medications sometime between 8 and 10 p.m. Friday night and that he, Lilly and the child had gone to sleep in the same bed, according to court documents. He “was unable to provide an accurate timeline” after they went to bed but said they found the child dead around 2 p.m. Saturday, authorities said.
During his interview, Gipson asked if the child’s autopsy showed that she had “something in her throat,” documents show. Investigators asked why she would have had something in her throat and Gipson replied that Lilly could have given the child “a piece of waffle to eat,” according to documents.
Gipson and Lilly are being held in the Independence County jail in lieu of $10,000 and $5,000 bonds, respectively.
Read Wednesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
