2 Year Old Boy Is Dead After drunk mom Passed-Out and Crushes him
Sunday, January 10th, 2010
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.”
