OKLAHOMA CITY, OK - A mom is now incarcerated after police say her newborn son suffocated to death on a couch while she was sleeping on it, blacked out drunk.
The mother has been identified as 33-year-old Brennan Spencer, and she has been charged with second-degree murder, KFOR reported.
The incident happened on November 2, 2024, after the baby's father, James Kelson, called 911 that morning.
Investigators said that the father told dispatchers he found his newborn son lying lifeless at Spencer's feet while she slept on the couch inside the couple's home.
Investigators said the cause of death was "asphyxia due to an unsafe sleep environment," and they said that Spencer was "blackout drunk" when she fell asleep on the couch.
The night before the baby died, Spencer and the baby's father reportedly drank a 12-pack of White Claw Hard Seltzers together. Each can was 12 ounces and contained 8% alcohol.
Investigators said that the baby's father told them he put the couple's newborn twins in their bassinets around 1:00 a.m. and then went to bed himself.
However, Spencer told police she later drove to a 7-Eleven and picked up four more "tall boy" White Claws in larger 19-ounce cans.
Security camera footage shows Spencer leaving the store around 1:30 a.m. She told police that when she got home, she sat on the couch and fell asleep.
She said she did not remember anything after that.
The arrest affidavit noted that officers found three of those "tall boy" cans in the trash, along with the 12 cans from the case consumed by the couple, according to People Magazine.
She reportedly told investigators that she was "probably really drunk ... drunk enough to just need to pass out."
Police said the baby's father told them he found Spencer holding one twin while the other twin was unresponsive at her feet around 6:45 that morning.
In the medical examiner's report, the medical examiner wrote he "felt the child was a victim of neglect," and that Spencer's "awareness levels were altered" because of the alcohol she consumed.
The medical examiner wrote," had the child been left in his bassinet," the likelihood" of the child still being alive would have been increased."
Legal expert Tim Gilpin said that no matter how heartbreaking the case is for the family, prosecutors won't take that into account when it comes to determining criminal liability.
"It looks as if the prosecutor is attempting to hold the caregiver responsible," Gilpin said.
"And unfortunately, that's what it takes in order to address this kind of situation," he added. "You know, it's a tragic set of circumstances." Spencer, who has yet to enter a plea, remains in custody after her bail was set at $500,000. She is scheduled to appear in court on August 5th for a preliminary hearing.
Kelson remains by her side throughout all of this, and posted to Facebook shortly after Spencer's arrest: "Does anyone know any pro bono lawyers that would help me and mom with a state VS accidental death of a child case?"
The mother has been identified as 33-year-old Brennan Spencer, and she has been charged with second-degree murder, KFOR reported.
The incident happened on November 2, 2024, after the baby's father, James Kelson, called 911 that morning.
Investigators said that the father told dispatchers he found his newborn son lying lifeless at Spencer's feet while she slept on the couch inside the couple's home.
Investigators said the cause of death was "asphyxia due to an unsafe sleep environment," and they said that Spencer was "blackout drunk" when she fell asleep on the couch.
The night before the baby died, Spencer and the baby's father reportedly drank a 12-pack of White Claw Hard Seltzers together. Each can was 12 ounces and contained 8% alcohol.
Investigators said that the baby's father told them he put the couple's newborn twins in their bassinets around 1:00 a.m. and then went to bed himself.
However, Spencer told police she later drove to a 7-Eleven and picked up four more "tall boy" White Claws in larger 19-ounce cans.
Security camera footage shows Spencer leaving the store around 1:30 a.m. She told police that when she got home, she sat on the couch and fell asleep.
She said she did not remember anything after that.
The arrest affidavit noted that officers found three of those "tall boy" cans in the trash, along with the 12 cans from the case consumed by the couple, according to People Magazine.
She reportedly told investigators that she was "probably really drunk ... drunk enough to just need to pass out."
Police said the baby's father told them he found Spencer holding one twin while the other twin was unresponsive at her feet around 6:45 that morning.
In the medical examiner's report, the medical examiner wrote he "felt the child was a victim of neglect," and that Spencer's "awareness levels were altered" because of the alcohol she consumed.
The medical examiner wrote," had the child been left in his bassinet," the likelihood" of the child still being alive would have been increased."
Legal expert Tim Gilpin said that no matter how heartbreaking the case is for the family, prosecutors won't take that into account when it comes to determining criminal liability.
"It looks as if the prosecutor is attempting to hold the caregiver responsible," Gilpin said.
"And unfortunately, that's what it takes in order to address this kind of situation," he added. "You know, it's a tragic set of circumstances." Spencer, who has yet to enter a plea, remains in custody after her bail was set at $500,000. She is scheduled to appear in court on August 5th for a preliminary hearing.
Kelson remains by her side throughout all of this, and posted to Facebook shortly after Spencer's arrest: "Does anyone know any pro bono lawyers that would help me and mom with a state VS accidental death of a child case?"
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