An Alexander woman is facing a manslaughter charge after authorities said she recklessly caused the death of her 7-month-old son.
Rosie Crone, 22, was arrested and charged Tuesday with manslaughter, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. She was taken to the Saline County jail but was no longer held there Thursday.
On Nov. 5, an Arkansas State Police special agent was called to Crone’s home at 16108 Redwood Lane in Alexander after city police and Saline County authorities requested state help. At the “light green mobile home,” the special agent found 7-month old Yankee Combee dead on the living-room couch, according to the arrest affidavit.
Saline County Coroner Kevin Cleghorn declared the boy dead when he got to the home, according to the affidavit.
Cleghorn told state police that Crone woke up from a nap and found the boy unresponsive.
After receiving consent to search the home, the special agent found it in “extreme disarray” with clothing and trash strewn all over the home,cockroaches scuttling across rooms and a litter box with feces, according to the affidavit.
The investigator said Yankee had been napping with his mother in a bed, where authorities also found a black, plastic trash bag, clothing, dryer sheets, a cigarette lighter and other items. Authorities found “numerous items associated with the ingestion, distribution and manufacture of illegal narcotics” in the bedrooms, according to the affidavit.
During an interview with police, Crone said Yankee was fine when he came back from his grandparents’ house.Crone fed the boy a bottle, gave him a pacifier and laid him down in her bed for a nap about 2 p.m. that day.
“Crone advised she thought about cleaning the bed off prior to laying down to take a nap with Yankee, but decided to just move the items out of the way,” according to the affidavit.
She woke up a few times during the nap and checked on her son, she told investigators.
“Crone advised she woke up and saw that a black plastic bag was covering Yankee’s nose and at least half of his mouth,” according to the report. “Crone advised the right side of Yankee’s mouth had turned ‘purplish blue.’”
She ran to her grandmother’s room in the same home, where the grandmother, Rosie Hobby, began performing CPR on the boy, the affidavit stated. Crone’s uncle, Jimmy Lewing, then took the boy into the living room and tried to administer CPR on him there, police said.
Crone told investigators she knew Yankee shouldn’t have been in the bed with her.
State Department of Human Services officials visited the home on a previous date, when they told Crone that the boy needed to sleep in a crib. While Crone had a crib for the boy, “it was too big for her room so she did not take DHS’ advice,” according to the affidavit.
During a search of the home, authorities found drug paraphernalia - four glass smoking devices in Crone’s room - baggies - some with residue that later tested positive for methamphetamine - and a pill bottle with different types of pills, police said.
Hobby, 59, who owns the home, was also arrested and charged with five drug charges. She, too, was no longer at the Saline County jail on Thursday.
Arkansas, Pages 10 on 03/01/2014