A Lancaster County woman is behind bars five months after the death of her three week old son.
On Wednesday, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Deputies arrested 35 year old Ashley Bean of rural Waverly, Ne for felony child abuse after she turned herself in at the Adult Detention Facility. The arrest comes after an investigation that began five months ago.
Just after 8:00 AM on December 17, 2017 sheriff’s deputies, Waverly Rural Fire and Lincoln Fire & Rescue responded to Bean’s home at 12511 Waverly Road for a report of an infant who was not breathing. Once on the scene, deputies and medical personnel determined that the infant, Bean’s son, had no pulse and was not breathing.
The infant, was transported to Bryan Medical Center West Campus, and later transferred to Children’s Hospital and Medical Center in Omaha. Despite life saving measures the baby died hours after arriving at Children's. An autopsy was performed and the cause of death was determined to be asphyxia due to combined suffocation and overlay.
Following a lengthy investigation, sheriff’s investigators determined that Bean had become highly intoxicated during the hours immediately preceding the 911 call, fell asleep with her infant son in the same bed and later awoke to find her son unresponsive. Based on interviews and evidence collected in this case, sheriff’s investigators believe that Bean knowingly and intentionally placed her infant son in a situation that endangered his life.
Felony child abuse is punishable up to three years imprisonment and eighteen months post-release supervision or a $10,000 fine.