Local News in Brief : Coroner Uncertain on Cause of Baby’s Death
The Los Angeles coroner’s office has yet to determine the cause of death of an infant boy who was found Sunday morning in a North Hollywood apartment described by police as a “filthy mess” of cockroaches, flies, soiled diapers and “hundreds” of empty beer cans.
The surgical phase of an autopsy on 15-day-old Steven Christopher Chacon was inconclusive, and authorities now must await the results of toxicology and microscopic tests, which are not expected to be completed for four weeks, said Coroner’s Investigator Dean Gilmour.
Meanwhile, the boy’s unmarried parents, Lori Needham, 20, and Christopher Chacon, 22, who called paramedics to their home in the 10700 block of Magnolia Boulevard because the infant was not breathing, are free on $3,000 bail each, said Detective Pat Gannon of the Los Angeles Police Department’s Abused Child Unit. The two had been arrested and charged with felony child endangering.
Police will decide whether to file more charges against Needham and Chacon after the coroner determines the cause of death, Gannon said.
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