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INDIANAPOLIS — A 2-year-old boy was pronounced dead after he was found beneath his passed-out mother — who investigators say admitted she’d been drinking — in an Indianapolis motel room early Wednesday, according to police. Latasha McMorris’ boyfriend found the two on the floor of an EconoLodge motel room on North Shadeland Avenue and, noticing that the boy wasn’t breathing, called 911 at about 12:30 am, police said. The boy, Sheldon Bartley Jr., was taken to Community East Hospital.

Mother charged in toddler death had troubled history

Jeremy Brilliant/Eyewitness News

Indianapolis – A toddler was found dead in a motel and now his mother is being charged in his death. It’s not the first time LaTasha McMorris, 24, has been in trouble for a crime involving alcohol and her children.

Last summer, a judge convicted her of neglect of a dependent. In fact, she was on probation when officers arrested her early Wednesday morning.

On July 19th, 2007, neighbors called police to report two children running loose in the street in the 100 block of Bosart Avenue. Their mother, witnesses said, was clearly under the influence of alcohol. McMorris was arrested for felony neglect of a dependant and public intoxication.

According to court documents, LaTasha was so drunk she fell to the ground while talking to a police officer.  Her blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit.

McMorris pleaded guilty and in October was sentenced to one year probation. In the four months since the conviction, she violated the terms of probation at least twice by not getting a job, not completing 24 hours of community service and failing a sobriety test. 

McMorris told a probation officer she “has had a drinking problem and never stopped drinking. She further stated that she has been drinking for ten years and everyone in her immediate family has a problem drinking.” In the past two months, police arrested McMorris on four separate occasions for public intoxication: twice in December and twice in January.   

After the October conviction, her children, two-year-old Sheldon Bartley and a six-year-old daughter, were both placed in the custody of their grandparents. Who took care of them after that is unclear. According to a statement from Child Services:  “DCS will conduct a complete and intensive review to verify all information and facts.”

DCS says they are limited by law regarding the amount of information they can release, but they’ll be working with the courts to make information public.   

LaTasha McMorris already had one probation violation hearing. With all of the public intoxication arrests, she was supposed to have another hearing this Friday.

Child Dies in Indiana After Being Discovered Beneath His Sleeping Mother

An Indiana mother was arrested and jailed this morning after her toddler son was found trapped and unconscious underneath the passed-out woman and was declared dead an hour later

Indianapolis police responded to an emergency call shortly after 12:30 a.m. this morning about a possible dead child inside a room at a local Econo Lodge, Sgt. Matthew Mount, a spokesman for the Indiana Metropolitan Police, told ABC News.

The call was made by the boyfriend of 24-year-old Latasha McMorris, Mount said. The boyfriend told police that he had arrived at the hotel room to find McMorris passed out on top of her son, 2-year-old Sheldon Bartley Jr. The boyfriend was not the father of the child, Mount said.

“The boyfriend discovered the baby was not breathing,” Mount said. “He called 911 for help.”

When police arrived, a medic was in the motel room trying to revive the child, who was transported to Community East Hospital and pronounced dead at 1 a.m. McMorris was unconscious and apparently under the influence of alcohol or drugs or both, Mount said.

The Marion County Coroner will perform an autopsy today to determine exactly how the child died, but Mount said it did not appear to be from a “natural cause.”

McMorris, who is being held on $100,000 bond at the Marion County Jail, was arrested at the scene and charged with felony neglect. Depending on results from the coroner’s report, she could face additional charges, according to Mount.

“Did she do this on purpose because she was under the influence?” Mount asked, describing possible scenarios. “Did she just roll over accidentally on top of the child? Did she pass out and fall on top of him?”

It was unclear whether McMorris had hired an attorney. Mount said the child’s biological father had been notified about his son’s death.

McMorris temporarily lost custody of her son and a 6-year-old daughter after a July arrest that led to a conviction on another felony neglect charge, Mount said. She was arrested four times for public intoxication between Dec. 16 and Jan. 30, Mount confirmed.

Susan E. Tielking, spokeswoman for the Indiana Department of Child Services, told ABC News that her office is reviewing McMorris’ case and could not immediately comment on Tuesday’s arrest or her conviction in July.

It is unclear when or under what circumstances McMorris regained custody after the July conviction.

Police called the child’s death shocking, regardless of the coroner’s determination. “You’ve got a small, toddler child who is supposed to be being protect by his mother,” Mount said, “and instead he appears to have suffered death at the hands of his mother.”

VIEWER COMMENTS BELOW:

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Link: 14 This story #### me off. Why do they have to wait for something as terrible as a death, before they ‘review’ the case? These kids should not have been back with their mother. Especially since she already had priors. This is ridiculous. That poor baby! Posted by: CMMONIQUE 2/6/08

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13 sjb992003–your suggestion only makes sense of the individual is sober and not stoned. A stoned and drunken person don’t care where they lay their heads. He*ll there was a pick of a college student in Buckhead atlanta passed out on the sidewalk with her legs all spread and her private parts showing. Someone took the picture and was circling it around on the internet for a while. Posted by: moon_glyderZ 2/6/08

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This is a real tragedy. That child never had a chance to live their life. Let’s not forget about the fact she had prior child neglect charges. She shouldn’t have been able to have the child after that anyway. Who ever let her continue raising that child is just as much at fault for this horrible thing that has happened. Posted by: JBB1202 2/7/08

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119 Mothers arn’t raising their children to love and care for their children, it seems most don’t know how to do that. Mothers, especially should never drink when caring for their children. I was babysitting for other peoples children when I was 12 years old, I helped raise my brothers and sister, that is unheard of today. I wouldn’t let a 12 year old watch me if I was sick now days. For Mothers to raise their children right they had to of been raised up with love and understanding. What kind of people are we getting into the world now days. Too much of no one cares about anyone but their selves and having a good time. Everyone better wakeup! This mother has learned the hard way, if she cares, but not for me to judge.A Grandmother Posted by: Missteapotblue 2/6/08

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116 Why on earth did she even have custody of her son? 4 DUI arrests in a 45-day time period? Really? Posted by: mopatters28 2/6/08

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107 Getting what kind of looks? I’m not understanding. The only looks my husband says he gets are “Wow, your daughter’s so pretty! What a good Daddy to be taking on some responsibility!” Posted by: jchambers101073 2/6/08

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105 jimstacyp ~ oh…don’t worry. Men are getting their share too. I’ve been reading about the dads who are throwing their kids over bridges and dropping 12 day old babies from shoulder height because his wife had their 3rd or 4th son (like she had something to do with it). Posted by: CMMONIQUE 2/6/08

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102 UMM……….where I’m from after all of the charges she has had she wouldn’t have custody of THIS kid either… Posted by: bankersmyname 2/6/08

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101 that poor little boy having to suffer like that in his last moments – how tragic Posted by: kate_garvin 2/6/08

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95 Only God knows–perhaps the child is better off. Posted by: trg59 2/6/08

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89 Sad to say, but this child is better off dead than living with this woman. There are SOOOO many people who would LOVE to have a child of their own, but for one reason or another cannot (myself included). Every story I read like this makes me want to tear my own hair out. JUST GIVE THEM UP FOR ADOPTION!!!! or better yet, be responsible and use birth control!!!! UGH! Eye for an eye…someone should smother this woman. Posted by: prinzipap 2/6/08

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87 From the Article: “McMorris temporarily lost custody of her son and a 6-year-old daughter after a July arrest that led to a conviction on another felony neglect charge, Mount said. She was arrested four times for public intoxication between Dec. 16 and Jan. 30, Mount confirmed. ” Our judicial and family care services are BROKEN!!!! Why was the biological father not given custody? If he’s no better than her, that is when our “System” is supposed to “help”. Posted by: bobo0511 2/6/08

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81 I guess this is another prime example of needing to prove that some people need an IQ test or something to prove that they should have children. If you prove that the booze, drugs, promiscuous sex is more important than giving your child the love, care and nurturing that each one of these precious lives deserves, you and your spouse should be irreversibly sterilized on the spot. We need to stop this type of gene pool before it overruns those of us that make our children our priorities. God bless and save all of these poor babies/children that are neglected and abused each and every day of their lives. There are too many loving couples out there that would have been more than willing to take this child and the rest of her long suffering children into their homes to be properly cared for, loved, shown how to play, been valued. This type of person doesn’t deserve to ever see her children again. They would be so much better off. Posted by: Dragonfly_Spirit 2/6/08

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78 “”who call this mother names have in fact themselves passed out on drugs or alcohol at some time or another. Most, I suspect.”" Seriously? Maybe only once, and when I was 21 and still in college. Not since (17 years and countin), and not ever since having my child. Not worth the risk. Posted by: mm1970 2/6/08

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76 AZCARDS: I ask myself this question virtually everyday. I have been unsucessfully trying to get pregnant for 3 years and i see these people having baby after baby that they dont care about or want, and in some cases kill. It breaks my heart and i wonder what makes them more worthy then me :-( Posted by: mk0130 2/6/08

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74 I am not sure the mom actually intended to kill the kid. I think the mom could’ve been acting a bit Britney Spearsish beforehand, though. Posted by: Jacquelina F 2/6/08

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72 It’s sad that our Social Workers are so overworked because there’s not enough to cover all the work that is there…..Sad that young and older mothers and fathers choose to use drugs or alchohol…sad they don’t want the responsibility of raising kids but yet they’re all so quick to hop in bed with someone and create them……Sad, also that the kids have no say in any of it….even when they tell someone they don’t want to go back home because it’s dangerous. Why do these kids get sent back home to an abusive environment??? Can we not see these kids are neglected?? Does it not do any good reporting these cases, knowing these people have kids and we see what’s going on….some don’t want to get involved, some try, but it does no good…..I have a daughter and son in law that would love to have a baby, but it just hasn’t happened for them yet, and yet we have “parents” (and I use that term loosely) that don’t care what happens to their own, just as long as they don’t have to watch, care for, or love their own……How sad is that. It makes me wonder what this world is coming to. Posted by: lindarmac55 2/6/08

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69 B2boston – I have to respond to your comment about going to sleep with a baby or small child in your bed. I work in a community hospital and not that long ago we had a baby come in DOA, because the parent fell asleep on the couch with her. She was smothered between the parent and the back of the couch cushion. I’m sorry, but your husband was right. You should never go to sleep lying down with your baby. You cannot rely on mother’s instinct. It is very dangerous. We advise our new Mom’s not to do this. I’m glad that it turned out ok for you, but tragic accidents happen and its not worth the risk. I’m also a mom… Posted by: lamcshef 2/6/08

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68 It’s so tragic and sad. It’s horrible that the little one died. The part that tears my heart out is the actual pain and suffering the child went through while he/she was dying. Must have been brutal. Eye for an eye – she should be suffocated to death! Posted by: lisapez153 2/6/08

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67 Me too johnybegood56. I know a 32-year-old who has a 17-year-old who has been in a juvenille detention center for most of his 17 years. She was an irresponsible parent and did not raise him because she was too busy having her “me” time and being a kid, like she was. Now that shes finally gotten him back she still can’t control him…I understand he’s almost an adult, but to not have a parental influence in your upbringing will only make things harder. On the other hand, my younger sister is 22 and is due to have her 2nd baby in a couple months. She was 19 when she got married and 20 when she got pregnant with her daughter, so her “me” time didn’t ever last past high school, but she wouldn’t give up motherhood for anything. I don’t think she could be a more responsible, loving mom… Posted by: nlm2383 2/6/08

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60 Yet another example where social services is a failed, broken system that needs a total overhaul. Republicans have to realize that PRO LIFE doesn’t end at birth and Democrats need to learn to be harder on drug abusing parents. I was a foster Mom for 6 years and know how the system if broken and how birth parents are given chance after chance to get things together-sometimes YEARS. They are given their kids back only to kill or abuse them. Let’s have a “Three Strike” rule for birth parents. Kids come into care 3 times and you’re no longer MOMMY. ADOPTION CAN WORK!!! Posted by: MommaBearTonya 2/6/08

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59 GobbleDog2…NO, a condom is the answer for an unwanted fetus Posted by: baybe-v 2/6/08

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55 B2Boston ~ well said! Although I agree that waiting to you’re past your ‘me’ stage is an ideal time to have kids, I didn’t have that luxury. I got pregnant at 15 and had my daughter at 16. I did have my choices (birth, adoption, or abortion). But I chose to have my daughter. That decision made me grow up, but it was MY decision. When I made that decision, I knew I was giving up a lot, including my ‘me’ time. That was alright by me. My child was going to be my focus. She didn’t ask to be born, but I wanted her so she was my responsibility. If this woman wasn’t ready, she should have not had them. It is always the kids that suffer because of an incompetent parent. Posted by: CMMONIQUE 2/6/08

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46 I live in Indianapolis and believe me, the Indiana Department of Child Services is a joke. This isn’t the first child to die after being returned to their irresponsible parent by Child Services. The people in Indiana are fed up but, unfortunately, we can’t do much about it right now. Governor Daniels should be held responsible for this. Come election time, you best believe that those responsible will be booted out. Posted by: Office Goddess 2/6/08

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40 eparady ~ My husband and I are going through this right now. The problem is the jails are over ran with people who are in there for drugs. They don’t find this a good enough reason to lock them up. They have started a program called Drug Court. This is to keep these druggies out of jail (for the room) and to try to get their lives back on track to get their kids back. Now, I don’t know the specifics of this program, but my step daughters mother is in it. My stepdaughter was at her house last June, on her mandatory summer visit, when her house was raided. She was arrested. 7 FELONIES this woman had. She didn’t spend more that a few days in jail. She had 4 supervised visits and then they were unsupervised. Who made this call? That would be the Child Protective Service were we live. We are on our THIRD case worker in less than a year. This ‘mother’ has been doing drugs since before my stepdaughter was born. For ten years now. Even the death of her 3 year old in 2003 didn’t staighten her out. She is a hopeless case, and we feel we endanger our daughter everytime we send her to her mother. Posted by: CMMONIQUE 2/6/08

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38 This is a tragedy with a precious life taken for, as yet, an unknown reason.Let’s get all of the facts from the autopsy and surviving “witness-alleged perpetrator” before we judge her.If criminal and /or negligent behavior is established in a court, then the punishment should fit the crime.If alcohol and/or drugs are involved, that does not diminish the mother’s culpability here!My prayers go out to this child and find a good foster home if any surviving siblings. Posted by: firemant2003 2/6/08

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36 908932 ~ I totally agree that this baby might be better off, not knowing what type of abuse/neglect he suffered with his mother. My husband was previously married to a ‘woman’ (I use that word lightly because she was 23 at the time-and not very mature) back in 2001. They were spilt up on 2003 and she had the kids (2 girls-4 and 3 yrs old). She was a very bad drug user and she and the kids were living with her parents who are alcoholics. The adults were drunk and drugged out so they didn’t blow out the candle before they went to sleep. The girls were up and got a hold of it. The fire started in the room they were in. By the time the 4 yr old got her mom up, the whole room was engulfed in flames, and the 3 yr old was no longer crying. This ‘woman’ abused drugs before and after her pregnancies. She is still using to this day. We have custody of the surviving child who is now 10. The only thing that got me through her death, was knowing that she was in a better place and no longer being neglected by ther mother. There is so much more to this story that I can’t write, but trust me. This ‘woman’ has no right being a mother. Posted by: CMMONIQUE 2/6/08 She is a stupid, drug and alcohol induced moron. One thing needs to be done for her and all other stupid people: MANDATORY STERILIZATION!!!!! Posted by: Iowan50 2/6/08

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31 Not long ago there was a story about a father that had rolled over onto the baby in bed and smothered and killed the baby. Unfortunately some people have not learned to put the baby in its crib before they fall asleep. This is another tragic story. Posted by: kimberlygwade 2/6/08

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28 Just another example of complete trash. You can find a story like this every day, one day it’s this , the next day someone microwaves their infant, it’s never – ending . The worst part is people like this usually are not punished for their crimes and yep , you guessed wind up having numerous more children. And yet in 2008 we are still more concerned with the gays raising children than people like this Posted by: frijolesnegros2003 2/6/08

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23 everyone has the right to be stupid once in a while, but i think this woman just abused the priviledge…. Posted by: idahoqltr 2/6/08

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20 She should lose her kid and have her tubes tied. I don’t believe in giving this type of person a second chance. It’s the kids that die and suffer. Posted by: mm1970 2/6/08

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18 There are so many people out there that want, and deserve children; yet they are unable to have children or adoption is out of the question due to the expense involved. People like this have children like “rabbits” and could not care less about them. It makes me sick and disgusts me to no end. Didn’t mean to do it? Didn’t realize she had done it? I say throw the book at her and let her rot in jail. Seems she has a history of neglect and abuse. That means she’s had opportunities to clean up and become more responsible with her kids. Posted by: potter5263 2/6/08