Infant found dead Monday was face-down beneath recliner

A 3-week-old baby boy found dead Monday in an Otis Orchards apartment was lying face-down underneath a recliner, according to court records.

Paramedics from the Spokane Valley Fire Department responded to the 19600 block of East Wellesley Avenue just before 7:30 a.m. and called deputies due to “questionable circumstances.” Deputies said the mother told a medic, “He’s gone, he hit his head,” according to court documents.

The medic reportedly told deputies that he didn’t notice any obvious injuries to the baby while he performed CPR.

The parents told deputies that they had been at a party at a friend’s house the night before until about 10:30 p.m. They said when they woke up no one knew where the baby was so they searched for him and found him face-down under the recliner, according to court documents.

An 11-year-old boy in the home told deputies that when he went to bed at 11 p.m. the baby was in a car seat, court records state. The mother reportedly said that she slept on the couch and the baby’s father slept in the recliner.

A responding deputy reported that the baby’s mother smelled of alcohol when she was interviewed, according to court documents. He also reported that the home was dirty and the floor was covered with empty baby bottles and diapers.

The investigation into the death is continuing and the parents have not been charged with a crime, said Sheriff’s Office spokesman Deputy Mark Gregory. The medical examiner has not yet released a cause of death.