A couple in Follansbee, West Virginia, faces 28 felony counts each of child neglect after their one-month-old infant died in what authorities described as a deplorable home. The child suffocated on a couch while the mother breastfed and fell asleep, officials said. Deputies found extreme squalor including soiled diapers, rotten milk, mold, and bugs.
Caleb Shane Decapio, 21, and Hope Lynn Taylor, 20, were charged this week following the infant's death on a couch in their Peacock Lane home. Brooke County Sheriff's deputies responded to a call about a baby not breathing and performed CPR for about 30 minutes. EMS pronounced the newborn dead at approximately 5:30 a.m., according to the criminal complaint cited by local outlets including WTOV and WTRF. Taylor told investigators she had been breastfeeding the child when she fell asleep. Upon waking, she found the baby unresponsive between her and Decapio. Authorities executed a search warrant hours later and documented deplorable conditions: 80 to 100 soiled diapers in the bedroom, 20 bottles of rotten milk or formula, moldy food throughout the home, and air so foul it was difficult to breathe. Investigators also noted bugs, a bruise near the base of the infant's skull, and blood on the cheek. Brooke County Sheriff Richard Beatty described the scene as one of the worst he had seen in over 30 years. 'It was terrible,' Beatty told WTRF. He added that the suspicious death of a one-month-old in such conditions would 'leave a mark in our brains for a little while.' Each of the 28 charges corresponds to one day the child allegedly lived in those conditions. The couple is held at Northern Regional Jail on $100,000 bond each, with preliminary hearings scheduled for April 6.