Woman, 19, accused in infant’s death pleads not guilty

By Tiffany Gibson

Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2009 | 10:54 a.m.

A 19-year-old Henderson woman accused of suffocating her newborn son in her home in August pleaded not guilty today.

Carmela Camero appeared this morning in front of District Court Judge Kevin Williams and pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. If convicted, public defender Andrea Luem said Camero could be sentenced to life in prison.

Williams scheduled a trial date for 10 a.m. on June 1 in Clark County District Court.

Camero is being held in the Clark County Detention Center without bail. She was arrested Aug. 26 after calling St. Rose Dominican Hospital, saying she delivered a baby that stopped breathing. Police began investigating after the hospital alerted them to Camero’s call.

During Camero’s preliminary hearing, police Detective Mark Hosaka said Camero changed her story several times but admitted to killing her baby during an interview. Luem said Camero never changed her story and told detectives she didn't kill her baby.

Police said discrepancies in Camero’s story led detectives to believe she hid her pregnancy, delivered the baby herself in her bathtub, then suffocated him.

Clark County Coroner Gary Telgenhoff ruled the cause of the infant’s death was undetermined because he couldn’t find any reason to suspect homicide. He said the baby was not stillborn and had taken many breaths, but is unsure why the baby stopped breathing.

Arrest records indicate that Camero, who lived with her mother and stepfather, feared her mother would be angry with her for having a baby without being married. The report also said Camero was afraid her mother would throw her out of the house and she and the baby would live in poverty.