Wednesday, November 29, 2006
The death was caused by hyperthermia, or high body temperature.
DAYTON (AP) -- A microwave is suspected to have killed a month-old girl last year who had a high body temperature, and her mother has been charged in the death, authorities said Tuesday.
China Arnold, 26, was arrested at her home Monday on a charge of aggravated murder, more than a year after she brought her dead baby to a hospital on Aug. 30, 2005, police said.
The absence of external burn marks on Paris Talley and high-heat internal injuries support the idea that the baby was put into the microwave, said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner's office.
"We have reason to believe, and we have some forensic evidence that is consistent with our belief, that a microwave oven was used in this death," he said.
That conclusion is supported by the Dayton police investigation, he said, but he wouldn't discuss the case in detail because charges have been filed.
Ruled homicide
The death was ruled a homicide caused by hyperthermia, or high body temperature. The lack of external burns ruled out an open flame, scalding water, heating pad or other possible cause of death that would have damaged the skin, Betz said.
Arnold's lawyer, Jon Paul Rion, said she had nothing to do with her daughter's death. She was stunned when investigators told her that a microwave might have been involved, he said.
"China -- as a mother and a person -- was horrified that such an act could occur," Rion said.
Arnold was arrested initially after the baby's death, then released.
Betz said the case was difficult because "there is not a lot of scientific research and data on the effect of microwaves on human beings."
Cause found
There was a lengthy investigation before prosecutors found enough probable cause to issue another arrest warrant, said Greg Flannagan, a spokesman for the county prosecutor's office.
The night before the baby was taken to the hospital, Arnold and the child's father went out for a short time and left Paris with a baby sitter, Rion said.
The mother didn't sense anything out of the ordinary until the next morning, when the child was found unconscious, Rion said.
Rion declined to say what the couple told hospital officials at the time.
"We're very curious as to why now -- some year-and-a-half later -- police are now looking at China," he said.
The microwave was taken as evidence, police Sgt. Gary White said.
"The microwave oven is definitely part of the investigation," he said.
Has other children
Arnold, who has three other children, was being held in the Montgomery County jail. She plans to plead innocent. She had attended a community college and was working at a mini-market.
"She loves her children very much," Rion said. "She's been wanting to try to understand what happened. The last thing in her mind is that she herself would ever be charged."
In 2000, a Virginia woman was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her month-old son in a microwave oven.
Elizabeth Renee Otte claimed she had no memory of cramming her son in the microwave and turning on the appliance in 1999. Experts said Otte suffered from epilepsy and that her seizures were followed by blackouts.