Autopsy inconclusive in alleged smothering death of baby

By Tiffany Gibson

Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2009 | 9:59 p.m.

An autopsy failed to confirm the cause of death of a newborn baby whose mother is accused of smothering the child to death after giving birth at home, the Clark County coroner testified on Wednesday.

Coroner Gary Telgenhoff said he filed the report as undetermined because he couldn’t find any abnormalities with the infant. He said the baby was not stillborn.

“There are cases where people just die, but that’s rare,” Telgenhoff said. “People have been giving birth at home safely for years. My impression is he took many breaths.”

His testimony came during a preliminary hearing in the case of Camerla Camero, 19, of Henderson, who appeared in Henderson Justice Court beside public defenders Andrea Luem and Kristine Kuzemka to listen to testimony by Telgenhoff and Henderson Police Detective Mark Hosaka.

Telgenhoff said the infant weighed 11 pounds, had an empty stomach and low salt levels, which could be a result of dehydration.

He also said there was no obstruction or blockage of the infant’s airway or signs of strangulation on the body.

“There’s no evidence of smothering unless there’s a struggle,” Telgenhoff said. “It’s certainly possible.”

He said he couldn’t rule out smothering, but is unsure of why the infant stopped breathing.

Luem said Camero is trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and tried to perform it on the infant.

She asked Telgenhoff if air found in the baby’s lungs could be a result of someone performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Telgenhoff said if a trained professional had tried cardiopulmonary resuscitation then there would have been physical evidence to prove it.

Hosaka said Camero told him she used CPR on the infant because the child was having trouble breathing.

He said he arrived on Camero’s home on Desert Pond Avenue, near Horizon Ridge Parkway and Paradise Hills Drive, on Aug. 24 after St. Rose Dominican Hospital alerted police that a woman had called about a dead baby.

When he reached the residence, he said, he found Camero sitting on the couch downstairs and the baby wrapped up in a towel on her bed upstairs.

Hosaka said Camero told him she gave birth to the child in the bathtub. He said she told police that she didn’t know she was pregnant, though she thought she might have been.

“She said she took a bath because of back cramps and then felt an urge to push,” Hosaka said. “When she did, the baby’s head came out.”

He said Camero told him she had a hard time getting the rest of the baby out and didn’t want to pull on the head for fear she might break the infant’s neck.

During the interview, Hosaka said, Camero told him she was holding the baby close to her, trying to warm him up. She said she tried to nurse the baby and held the infant to her breasts for 10 minutes, he said.

He said Camero told him the baby went to sleep after the birth, so she wrapped him in towels and went shopping at several stores to buy clothes and baby necessities.

When she returned home, she said, the baby was alive but at some point stopped breathing, Hosaka testified.

Following up on the case, Hosaka said, he obtained three search warrants for the house, a vehicle and a trash bin in front of the residence. While searching the house, he said, he found cards from adoption, abortion and family services agencies in Camero’s room with the date January 2009 written on them.

Police also seized Camero’s computer, which had Google searches for hospitals and abortion, Hosaka testified. He said the computer also contained a search that said “my baby’s dead.”

After speaking with Hosaka on Aug. 26, Camero was arrested and taken into custody. She is still being held at the Henderson Detention Center.

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 and would throw her out of the house.

Police have also said that when Camero was 16, she gave birth to another baby at a Strip hotel while she was vacationing with her family from Reno. Police said the baby was stillborn, and no charges were filed.

She wrapped the baby in towels and left it in a hotel trash bin, authorities said.

Justice of the Peace Rodney Burr continued Wednesday’s hearing to 9:30 a.m. Oct. 27 in Henderson Justice Court, where Camero’s mother, Angela, is expected to testify.