Danielle Ivy Dechert, Blanco County, Texas mom sentenced to 40 years for smothering 5 month old baby girl in bed while intoxicated. Child id as Rheylene Ledesma. Academy of American of Pediatrics advises against co-sleeping with infants below 12 months old.
A Texas mother has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after rolling on her infant baby daughter and smothering the 5 month old girl in bed, while intoxicated.
The sentencing follows Danielle Ivy Dechert, 27, of Blanco County, on August 30th pleading guilty to one count each of injury to a child and recklessly causing their death while co-sleeping with the 5 month old baby. According to court documents, the woman was intoxicated by an illegal substance while ‘co-sleeping’ with her daughter.
At some point during her sleep, Dechert rolled over onto her child and smothered her to death. It was alleged that the parent didn’t provide any medical treatment or emergency aid to the child for over eight hours while the infant lay lifeless in the bed.
Child endangerment
The Texas Attorney General said in a statement: ‘Danielle Ivy Dechert, 27, pleaded guilty in the 33rd Judicial District Court of Blanco County, Texas, on August 30, 2024, to Injury to a Child – Recklessly Causing Death/Serious Bodily Injury and was sentenced to 40 years in the Institutional Division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice. It was alleged in court documents that the Defendant, the biological mother of 5-month-old Rheylene Ledesma, became intoxicated by an illegal substance while ‘co-sleeping’ with her infant and smothered Rheylene Ledesma to death.’
Co-sleeping is when an adult and a small child share a bed – but the American Academy of Pediatrics advises against it due to the high risk of death. Dechert was jailed for 40 years as her punishment was enhanced due to a prior unrelated conviction for evading arrest in a motor vehicle in 2014.
The 2014 incident, wholly unrelated to the present case, was upgraded to a felony due to a concurrent charge of endangering a child.
AAP advisory for safe co-sleeping
Notes, AAP in a recent advisory: ‘The AAP continues to emphasize the importance of placing infants on their backs in an uncluttered crib next to the parents’ bed in a nonsmoking environment. The policy and technical report also address the use of noninclined sleep surfaces, short-term emergency sleep locations, substance use, home cardiorespiratory monitors and tummy time.’
The The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends against bed-sharing or co-sleeping with infants under 12 months of age. This is because co-sleeping with an infant can be dangerous and increase the risk of suffocation, SIDS, and strangulation.
Of note, Dechert faces an ongoing criminal case in nearby Gillespie County, Texas. In that case, she is accused of one count of unlawful possession of a firearm. A status hearing in that case is currently slated for Nov. 14.
