North Carolina mother charged in death of her infant — who died the same way her previous baby did a year earlier

Police have charged a 24-year-old North Carolina woman in connection to the death of her newborn baby — apparently, the second infant to have perished under her watch and weight inside a two-year window.

The Wilmington Police Department indicated that officers responded in the early hours of Oct. 3, 2023, to the 800 block of Castle Street following a report of an unconscious baby who had stopped breathing. First responders were reportedly unable to revive the 7-week-old child, whose name was Zhen.

Investigators discovered that Mackenzie Katlyn Reed had been sleeping next to Zhen "and during the night she suffocated her child."

The Wilmington StarNews reported that the North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled Zhen's cause of death as "asphyxia due to unsafe sleep environment." The common cold was listed as an additional factor.

According an investigative report obtained by StarNews, the boy had been sleeping in a queen size bed with both parents and his twin. The autopsy indicated he was ultimately found "prone ... with (his) face in (a) blanket," and had suffered "petechial hemorrhages of epicardium, pleural surfaces, diaphragm and thymus" with swelling in his brain and lungs.

The mother had allegedly been "smoking THC and using THC gummies during the [previous] day and evening."

The investigator's report indicated Reed fell asleep after feeding the child around midnight. Zhen had been on her left side at the time. When the father awoke to find the child, he was on Reed's right side.

According to the police report, the mother said "she could not believe that 'she had done this a second time,'" referencing the death of her 3-month-old baby boy in 2022.

Police indicated Reed "had another child who died that she had been co-sleeping with as well."

A spokesman for the New Hanover County District Attorney's Office told WECT-TV that Reed was not charged for the baby's death in 2022 "because it was determined there was not enough evidence to prosecute."

Following Zhen's death in October, police launched an investigation. The WPD finally obtained warrants for Reed's arrest on March 6 then took her into custody.

Reed has been charged with felony child abuse resulting in serious injury; involuntary manslaughter; and child abuse/neglect resulting in serious physical injury.

"These charges come as a result of an in-depth investigation and hard work by the Wilmington Police Department Special Victims Unit in conjunction with the New Hanover County District Attorney’s Office," the WPD stated in a release.

As of last week, Reed was being held under a $500,000 secured bond.

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, roughly 3,500 infants die every year from sleep-related infant deaths, including sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), ill-defined deaths, and accidental suffocation and strangulation.

The AAP recommends "a safe sleep environment to reduce the risk of all sleep-related deaths. This includes supine positioning; use of a firm noninclined sleep surface; room sharing without bed sharing; and avoidance of soft bedding and overheating."

In addition to cautioning against bed sharing, the AAP suggests SIDS risk can be lowered by parents avoiding exposure to nicotine, alcohol, marijuana, opioids, and illicit drugs.

The AAP noted further that studies have shown bed sharing exposes children to various risk factors for SIDS as well as "to additional risks for unintentional injury and death, such as suffocation, asphyxia, entrapment, falls, and strangulation. Infants younger than 4 months and those born preterm and/or with low birth weight are at highest risk."

Pediatrician Heidi Szugye told the Cleveland Clinic that the risk of a sleep-related infant death while bed sharing is five to 10 times higher in the early stages of life.

"Bed sharing is connected to SIDS. There's no question about it," said Szugye. "We don't recommend it for babies of any age."

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