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

A 29-year-old antheral successful Wisconsin volition walk much than a decennary down bars for his relation successful sidesplitting his girlfriend's 4-year-old special-needs daughter, who died with a humor alcohol level that was good implicit lethal levels.

Sawyer County Circuit Judge Anthony J. Stella Jr. connected Friday ordered Domenic Robert Falkner to service 15 years successful a authorities correctional installation aft helium pleaded nary contention to 1 number each of repeated carnal abuse of a child causing large bodily harm and chronic kid negligence resulting successful decease successful the 2021 slaying of Zoey Chafer, tribunal records show. In speech for pleading to the charges, 1 number of first-degree intentional homicide against Falkner was dismissed but work in.

Following his incarceration, Falkner volition beryllium required to walk an further 5 years connected probation. The tribunal credited him with 1,522 days of clip already served.

The victim's mother, Samantha S. Smith, pleaded successful March to the aforesaid brace of charges and was likewise sentenced to 15 years successful prison.

Diagnosed with "severe cerebral palsy" arsenic a newborn, Zoey was nonverbal, incapable to move, and needed a feeding conduit for nutrition and hydration. Falkner, who moved successful with Smith successful August 2020, was an approved caregiver for Zoey, meaning the authorities paid him to instrumentality attraction of the child.

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.