09/24/2010 // West Palm Beach, FL, US // Sandra Quinlan // Sandra Quinlan

Albany, GA—Family members of a 4-month old infant who died recently alleged the baby’s head became entrapped in the mesh netting of a playpen, causing him/her to suffocate to death. According to a September 22, 2010 WALB News report, Albany’s Child Death Investigation Team has launched a full probe into the tragic incident.

Reports indicated family members found young Travontae Goude unresponsive in a playpen at a home along Leonard Avenue in east Albany. The infant and his/her 14-year-old mother were reportedly visiting family members when the baby apparently suffocated.

According to Investigator Greg Blackmon, “Once I arrived they had actually placed the child on the couch area so they had removed the child from the bed to the couch. Actually the granddad had performed CPR on the child before EMS arrived on the scene.”

The baby’s body was expected to be sent to Atlanta or Macon so an autopsy could be performed.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) issued a report concerning the dangers of playpens in 2001. According to information provided, the CPSC received more than 200 reports of infant fatalities occurring in playpens from 1988 to 2001.

Nearly half of those deaths occurred in playpens that had “soft bedding or improper or extra mattresses” present. Additionally, many of those babies allegedly “died of suffocation or SIDS.”

The American SIDS Institute defines Sudden Infant Death Syndrome as “the sudden death of an infant under one year of age which remains unexplained after a thorough case investigation, including performance of a complete autopsy, examination of the death scene, and review of the clinical history.”

Legal News Reporter: Sandra Quinlan. Legal News for Georgia Personal Injury Lawyers.

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