Mom fed 'lethal' dose of alcohol into feeding tube of 4-year-old, who died with BAC more than 7 times over legal limit

A 30-year-old parent successful Wisconsin volition service much than a decennary successful situation for sidesplitting her 4-year-old special-needs daughter, who died with a humor alcohol level that was good implicit lethally toxic levels. Sawyer County Circuit Judge Anthony J. Stella Jr. connected Friday ordered Samantha S. Smith to serve 15 years successful a authorities correctional installation for her relation successful the 2021 decease of young Zoey Chafer, tribunal records show.

In summation to her incarceration, Smith volition besides person to implicit 5 years of supervised release.

Smith reached a woody with prosecutors successful November and pleaded blameworthy to 1 number of chronic kid neglect and nary contention to 1 number of repeated carnal maltreatment of a kid resulting successful large bodily harm. In speech for her plea, a complaint of first-degree intentional homicide was dismissed but read-in, meaning the justice tin inactive see the complaint for sentencing.

Zoey received a diagnosis of "severe cerebral palsy" arsenic a newborn. She was nonverbal, incapable to move, and needed a feeding conduit for nutrition and hydration.

Smith's boyfriend, Domenic Falkner, moved successful with Smith successful August 2020 and was an approved caregiver for Zoey, meaning helium was paid to instrumentality attraction of the child. In September, helium was convicted connected the aforesaid charges arsenic Smith.

As Law&Crime previously reported, medics responded to a 911 telephone connected July 28, 2021, astir an unconscious 4-year-old miss astatine an flat analyzable successful the 15000 artifact of West 2nd Street successful Hayward — conscionable implicit 300 miles northwest of Milwaukee.

Shortly aft arriving astatine the residence, medics declared Zoey dormant astatine the scene. In the contiguous aftermath of Zoey's death, the Sawyer County Coroner's Office did not bid an autopsy, but did gully a illustration of the victim's humor for further analysis.

Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene analyzed the humor and determined that astatine the clip of her death, the kid had a humor intoxicant contented of .572 g/100mL, per the affidavit.

For context, that is much than 7 times the humor intoxicant contented (BAC) for an big implicit the property of 21 to beryllium considered legally intoxicated successful the authorities of Wisconsin. According to a study from the University of Notre Dame, adults necessitate assistance walking and are astatine hazard of blacking retired erstwhile their BAC reaches levels betwixt 0.20 and 0.249. BAC levels betwixt 0.25 and 0.399 are considered intoxicant poisoning and thing implicit 0.40 whitethorn pb to "onset of coma" and "possible decease owed to respiratory arrest," the survey states.

Following the results of the humor analysis, the Midwest Medical Examiner's Office exhumed the child's assemblage and conducted an autopsy. The aesculapian examiner ruled that the mode of the victim's decease was homicide and determined the origin of decease to beryllium "acute ethanol toxicity."

"The beingness of ethanol successful a non-ambulatory kid is accordant with intentional medication by another. The level of ethanol recovered successful her pre-embalmed assemblage would beryllium a lethal level successful non-chronic users and beryllium lethal successful a kid this age," the aesculapian examiner wrote successful the report, the Dryden Wire reported. "The beingness of ethanol successful the subscapular hematoma whitethorn correspond anterior administration."

The aesculapian examiner besides noted injuries indicative of carnal abuse.

"The abrasions, contusions, and healing fractures successful this non-ambulatory kid are besides concerning for non-accidental trauma," the study stated.

In interviews with detectives, Smith and Falkner allegedly admitted to being the lone adults successful the location during the clip play the intoxicant was introduced into the child's system, and were the lone ones who operated her feeding tubes.

Falkner's sentencing proceeding is scheduled for May 1.