Hearing set for woman, 19, charged in newborn’s death

By Tiffany Gibson

Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2009 | 4:40 p.m.

The case of a 19-year-old woman accused of suffocating her newborn son in her home was bound over Tuesday to Clark County District Court.

Carmela Camero will appear in district court at 9 a.m. Dec. 8 for her arraignment. Attorney Andrea Luem said Camero will plead not guilty to the murder charge.

She is being held in the Clark County Detention Center without bail. During a status check on Tuesday in Henderson Justice Court, Luem requested Camero’s bail be set at a low amount but Burr denied the request.

Henderson Justice of the Peace Rodney Burr reviewed briefs prepared by both counsels regarding Nevada’s criminal law, which states criminal intent must be found in order to convict someone of murder.

Prosecutor Michael Staudaher argued that Camero made a statement to police admitting that she killed her baby, but Luem said Camero’s statements given to police weren't voluntary.

She also said the murder charge isn’t valid because the coroner ruled the newborn’s death as undetermined, not homicide.

Luem also said detectives never read Camero her rights before interrogating or arresting her. She said she plans to proceed with these arguments during Camero’s trial.

Henderson Police arrested Camero on Aug. 26 after she called St. Rose Dominican Hospital and said she delivered a baby that stopped breathing. Police began investigating after the hospital alerted them to Camero’s call.

Throughout the investigation, police reports indicate that Camero changed her story several times.

Henderson Police Detective Mark Hosaka said Camero admitted she killed her baby during an interview with him. Luem argues that Hosaka kept Camero in the room for hours and used different techniques to trick Camero into confessing. She said Camero told detectives continuously that she did not 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 suffocating him.

During Camero’s preliminary hearing, Clark County Coroner Gary Telgenhoff said he ruled the infant’s death as 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.

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

Carmela Camero’s mother, Angela Camero, testified during the preliminary hearing that she did not know her daughter was pregnant. She said she had suspicions in July but believed her daughter when she said she wasn’t pregnant.