Police: Georgia 4-Week-Old Dead After Father Spiked Bottle with Alcohol

A mother and father from Hiram, Georgia, have been charged with murdering their four-week-old infant, who doctors said “had a quantity of alcohol in its system that was well over four times the legal limit for an adult,” according to authorities.

In a release, the Paulding County Sheriff’s Office (PCSO) announced it arrested Sydnei Dunn, 24, and Maquis Colvin, 25, on April 14, and both were charged with malice murder, a felony; second-degree murder, a felony; first-degree cruelty to children, a felony; and reckless conduct, a misdemeanor. Colvin faces additional charges of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and parole violation — both felonies.

On April 13, officials at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) called deputies to the hospital regarding the unresponsive infant who was taken to the hospital, the PCSO said in a press release. “CHOA officials stated that the circumstances surrounding the child’s condition did not make sense and sounded as if they needed to be looked into by law enforcement,” the PCSO said.

When deputies arrived on the scene, they met with medical professionals before speaking to the child’s parents, Sydnei Dunn and Maquis Colvin. After Dunn suggested that the child must have suffered from alcohol poisoning due to breastfeeding as she had consumed a significant amount of alcohol the previous day, she “indicated that the child’s father put alcohol in the baby’s bottle,” according to the PCSO.

That day, detectives issued a search warrant of the Hiram basement apartment and found evidence in addition to a firearm, the PCSO noted. Colvin, a convicted felon, is not allowed to possess or be near a firearm.

The following day, the child died “as a result of its condition,” hospital officials said, according to authorities. “Doctors further advised that the child had a quantity of alcohol in its system that was well over four times the legal limit for an adult,” the release said.

Both parents are being held at Paulding County Jail without bond, and they could face additional charges, according to the sheriff’s office.

A neighbor, who chose to remain anonymous called the infant’s death “sickening,” when speaking with WSB-TV. “I’ve never seen the baby, but my daughter did,” she said. “She just seen the mother bringing the baby carrier and putting it in the car.”

The outlet caught up with another unidentified neighbor who expressed concern for the children who reportedly live on the main floor of the Harim home.

“There’s two other children that live on the main floor — makes me worry for their safety. This is going on in their basement?” a neighbor said. “I mean, that’s your child. It’s just unheard of.”

It is unclear what the relationship is between the accused murders and those who live above the basement.

The incident comes to light after another incident in which three one-year-olds were taken to a Virginia hospital after allegedly being exposed to THC, the main psychoactive compound in cannabis, while at daycare, Breitbart News reported.