Edmonton police said Thursday that an Edmonton woman had been charged in connection with the murder of her daughter, who was less than two weeks old.
Police said officers were called to a home in the area of 72 Street and 83 Avenue Wednesday, March 29, 2017, after it was reported a baby was not breathing. When police arrived, paramedics were taking the infant to hospital.
She was pronounced dead a short time later.
The Medical Examiner’s Office contacted the EPS Homicide Section Thursday, April 7, after an autopsy and toxicology tests confirmed the infant had died from a lethal dose of methamphetamine.
“The Medical Examiner has stated there are two ways that the baby could have ingested the meth, can be ingested and that’s either anally or orally,” EPS spokesperson Scott Pattison said.
“Our understanding of that level of methamphetamine, that couldn’t have been administered, that lethal dose, through a woman’s breast milk specifically.”
Michelle Rice, 31, has been charged with second degree murder. The infant was 11-days-old at the time of her death.
“I was the only one that was upstairs; they knocked on my door first, the police, the ambulance, so on and so forth, I had to let them in,” landlord Josh Gork said. “I didn’t know and then we watched them bring the poor little thing out.”
“My wife held the little girl, two days old, three days old,” Gork said. “It was that quick, it happened very quickly.”
“It’s a horrific case,” Pattison said.
EPS said Rice was not known to police, and there is no evidence the home was a meth lab.
Police said Rice was arrested Thursday. Pattison also confirmed Rice is also the mother of a young boy, who was not harmed. He is currently in the care of a family member.
It’s believed there were a number of people who visited the home in the days before the baby’s death, and police said investigators would like to speak with them.
Anyone who visited that home on or after March 18, 2017 has been asked to call police at 780-423-4567 or #377 on a mobile phone. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Crime Stoppers by calling 1-800-222-TIPS (8477).
