Local News in Brief : Dead Baby’s Mother May Be Charged

An unidentified mother whose baby boy died at San Dimas Community Hospital one hour after birth may face criminal charges, depending on the outcome of an autopsy and other tests.

Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department homicide detectives are investigating whether the infant--born three months prematurely Monday--may have died as a result of the mother’s cocaine habit.

Charges against such mothers are rarely filed, although Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Bob Dambacher said last year that more than 40 infant deaths were ruled “accidental, due to maternal drug abuse,” and more than 30 as “natural, but with a history of maternal drug abuse.”