MONROE — Detectives plan to close their investigation into the death of a 7-year-old boy who fatally overdosed now that a city prosecutor has declined to pursue misdemeanor charges against the child’s parents.
“We have exhausted everything we had on this case. It is going to be closed. If new information becomes available, it will be forwarded to detectives to look at and decide whether to reopen the case,” Monroe police spokeswoman Debbie Willis said.
The boy, identified in court documents as “A.J.,” died Jan. 30, 2012, from a fatal dose of salicylates, a chemical common in aspirin and numerous other over-the-counter drugs.
The Snohomish County medical examiner declined to do an autopsy despite repeated requests by Monroe police investigators.
In a memo to county prosecutors, detectives wrote that their investigation was hampered by a lack of an autopsy. It was toxicology tests, which are routinely ordered by the medical examiner, that determined the boy had overdosed on salicylates. Those results arrived after his body already had been cremated.
Monroe investigators recommended the boy’s mother be charged with second-degree manslaughter. They also said they believed there was evidence to support other, less serious charges, against both parents.
Snohomish County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Roe declined to file any charges against the boy’s parents, saying there wasn’t sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime had been committed. Prosecutors concluded that there also wasn’t enough evidence to prove who, if anyone, provided the boy with the fatal dose of medication.
Monroe investigators later met with the city prosecutor. Specifically, they asked if there was evidence to prove that the parents made a false or misleading statement to a public official, a gross misdemeanor.
The parents allegedly told investigators that they hadn’t given their son any medication except his anti-seizure medication, according to police reports. A.J. was severely developmentally delayed.
A witness later reported to police that the boy’s mother told her that she had given A.J. some aspirin because he had a cold.
There was some question whether a reasonable person would consider aspirin medicine, Willis said. The city prosecutor, Melanie Thomas-Dane, determined that she wouldn’t be able to prove the elements of the offense, Willis said.
A.J. was brought in just after 4 a.m. Jan. 30, 2012, to the emergency room in Monroe. His father reported that the boy was breathing and alive when they left their home, about two miles from the hospital.
Monroe detectives and social workers repeatedly asked the medical examiner to conduct an autopsy, based on the family’s history and circumstances surrounding the boy’s death. A.J. and his older brother were taken from their parents’ care for three months in 2010 after they were found living in squalor. Their father later pleaded guilty to reckless endangerment.
The medical examiner classified the boy’s death as “low suspicion.” The boy’s body was released to a funeral home just hours after the medical examiner took custody. By the time police were told about the blood test results, the body had been cremated.
The case prompted changes in Snohomish County on who is notified about a child’s death when no autopsy is planned. The medical examiner has agreed to contact Child Protective Services, law enforcement and prosecutors before releasing the body of a child to a funeral home.
The medical examiner’s office has undergone numerous reforms. Most recently, the county hired a deputy director to address management issues and look at long-term improvements.
Management problems led to a half-million-dollar settlement with a former death investigator. A similar lawsuit brought by a different female investigator still is pending.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @dianahefley.
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