A Boston couple has been charged in connection with the death of their 5-week-old daughter, nine months after the baby girl was rushed to Boston Medical Center and pronounced dead.
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said that Raynell Reed, 31, and Gerard Winn, 52, were indicted on Friday on a charge of manslaughter, Boston 25 reported.
Hayden said Reed gave birth on December 5, 2024, two months earlier than her expected due date. Prosecutors say Reed and Winn did not seek medical care for the baby even as her health steadily deteriorated.
“During the five weeks of the infant’s life, she failed to gain or maintain weight and was severely malnourished‚” Hayden’s office said. “Despite knowing that their baby was born at least two months premature and observing that the newborn was unable to gain or maintain weight, Reed and Winn never sought any medical care.”
Reed called for help from 911 on the morning of January 9, 2025, reporting that the infant wasn’t breathing. Prosecutors said the little girl weighed 2 1/2 pounds at the time of her death.
The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the baby died from acute intoxication of fentanyl and cocaine with malnourishment and sepsis. The drugs were found in the baby’s heart blood and liver blood.
“It’s difficult to conceive of something more tragic than a child being born and then ignored to the extent it leads to death by malnourishment and sheer neglect,” Hayden said. “The allegation that the parents were using dangerous drugs in the newborn’s presence only adds to the terrible aspects of this crime.”
Reed and Winn were ordered held on $100,000 bail and are due back in court on December 18.
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