Kalamazoo County Jail booking pictures of Jose Roldan Jr. and Ladesha Powe
A couple in Michigan have been taken into custody and charged with involuntary manslaughter after authorities say their alcohol-drenched night ended with them suffocating their infant between cushions in their sofa.
The child was only six months old.
Ladesha Ann Powe, 29, and Jose Roldan Jr., 40, are accused of homicide involuntary manslaughter and felony child abuse in the second degree. The charges were filed on March 12, although the incident took place last year. Powe and Roldan are facing a probable cause conference on April 17. Roldan Jr. is scheduled for a probable cause hearing on April 23 and has an examination hearing set for April 30.
The couple's bail has been set at $100,000 cash/surety per person.
Lawyers for Powe and Roldan Jr. did not promptly respond to request for comment Monday.
Local CBS associate WWMT reported last week that police said Powe admitted to being “a lot far gone, wasted maybe, like, very, very wasted” after drinking five beers at her home last December and then falling asleep on the couch with her 6-month-old daughter, Faith Hope Roldan, in her arms. The child’s father, Roldan Jr., reportedly confessed to police that he consumed at least nine to 10 “tall boys,” or beers of roughly 25 ounces a piece.
He also informed police that he fell asleep on the couch and the couple admitted to using marijuana before falling asleep too.
Prosecutors have stated that footage from inside the couple’s living room shows Powe holding the child before the baby falls out of her arms and lands between Roldan Jr. and a couch cushion. Roldan Jr. then repositioned himself on the sofa and unintentionally smothered the child. The baby cried before becoming motionless, the outlet reported.
Powe woke up shortly afterward, searched for her daughter, and not finding her, returned to her bedroom without reappearing. When Roldan Jr. woke up and found the infant behind the cushion, he called 911 as she was not breathing.
NBC affiliate WOOD-TV stated that a local medical examiner confirmed the infant died of asphyxiation.
Prosecutors did not promptly respond to Law&Crime for comment on Monday but last week, Kalamazoo County prosecutor Jeff Getting mentioned that he has watched the video of the events that occurred in Powe and Roldan Jr.’s living room.
“I’ve seen it and it’s not something that anyone should have to watch,” he said. “It’s horrific.”
The parents could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years each.