Infant’s death being investigated

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Hollister Police Department is investigating the death of a 9-month-old infant who was found unresponsive after falling asleep on a couch.

“The investigation will explore all possible causes, which may include criminal negligence and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS),” according to a department news release.

According to the release, police officers, fire fighters and American Medical Response staff responded on Sept. 25 at approximately 7:48 a.m. to a report of an unresponsive infant who had no pulse and didn’t show signs of breathing, “indicating a life-threatening situation.”

Hollister Police Chief Carlos Reynoso said fire personnel arrived four minutes following the emergency call and officers were on scene two minutes later.

He said emergency responders immediately conducted cardiopulmonary resuscitation and continued those efforts until the child arrived at Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital.

Reynoso said the infant was pronounced dead at the hospital at 9:40 a.m.

According to the release, the infant had been sleeping on a couch before being found unresponsive by a family member. 

Reynoso said there are elements of the investigation which are not being released at this time, including how long the infant was unconscious before being found unresponsive, the position in which the infant was found laying, whether the infant was laying alone on the couch or with someone next to the infant, and if the infant regularly slept on the couch.

According to the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, SIDS, the sudden and unexplained death of a child younger than 1 year old, is the leading cause of death in children between one month and one year of age.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, between 1996 and 2022, the rate of sudden unexpected infant death, including SIDS, in the U.S. has remained between 101.4 and 86.1 per 100,000 live births. In 2022, the latest available year of data, there were 3,700 sudden unexpected infant deaths (SUID), including 1,529 from SIDS.

According to the institute, there is no known way to prevent SIDS, but parents can reduce risks by placing babies on their back to sleep. 

The American Academy of Pediatrics also recommends parents to avoid “redundant soft bedding and soft objects in the infant’s sleeping environment.” 

It also recommends that parents sleep in the same room as the infant.

“We also know that placing babies for sleep on a firm, flat surface that meets Consumer Product Safety Commission standards (like a crib, bassinet, or play yard) protects them from SIDS,” former president of the District of Columbia American Academy of Pediatrics Dr. Lanre Falusi states in a 2022 article. “Little ones should never sleep on a fluffy comforter, a couch or armchair, a waterbed, or padded play spaces like baby nests, since soft surfaces can easily block their noses and airways.”

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