Mother under influence of drugs charged in baby's death

BINGHAMTON, N.Y. (AP) — Authorities say a mother who was under the influence of a mixture of drugs has been charged with causing her 6-month-old daughter's death.


Forty-one-year-old Danielle Lefay, of Endicott, New York, was arraigned Friday in Broome County Court on second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide charges.

Authorities say Lefay suffocated her daughter after rolling on top of the baby while sleeping next to her on an air mattress in January 2015. Investigators say Lefay had taken a mixture of both prescription and non-prescription medications, along with marijuana, before going to sleep that night.

The Press & Sun-Bulletin of Binghamton reports the child was found unresponsive the next morning and taken to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Lefay is being held on $50,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond.