Parents to Be Tried in Death of Rat-Bitten Baby : Courts: Blood samples taken from the couple after a starving pet rodent killed their son showed moderate traces of drugs. But their attorney says they’re being treated unfairly because they are homeless.

A homeless couple, who claim they slept unaware in their car as their starving pet rat killed their son, later tested positive for drugs, a police detective testified Tuesday as Kathyleen and Steven Giguere were ordered to stand trial in the infant’s death.

Both parents have denied using methamphetamine, but blood samples taken from them about 18 hours after the Aug. 26 death of Steven Giguere Jr. reveal moderate traces of the illegal stimulant, said Detective Larry E. Flynn of the Anaheim Police Department. Steven Giguere, the infant’s father, also admitted using marijuana the day before the boy died, Flynn said.

Prosecutors said they do not know whether the parents were affected by the drugs at the time of the 4-month-old child’s death. “At this point, we don’t know what affect, if anything, the methamphetamine had at the time of the death,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Jim Tanizaki.

Tanizaki said he could not speculate on how much methamphetamine the couple ingested, or when. But he said Flynn’s testimony showed that both lied to authorities about their drug use.

A defense attorney, who declined to comment on the Gigueres’ alleged drug consumption, suggested that the couple are being punished for an accidental death. Attorney Matthew Vallance said he questions whether the parents are being treated fairly because they are homeless.

“I don’t see middle-class families being prosecuted when their kids fall into a Jacuzzi” and die, Vallance said outside of court.

The Gigueres told police they were sleeping in their car in an Anaheim parking lot in the 800 block of South West Street when Kathyleen Giguere awoke about 3 a.m. to discover the child was not breathing properly, Flynn testified.

But an autopsy on the dead infant revealed air in his lungs and stomach, suggesting that the child, who was bitten 110 times, was “crying loudly at the time of death,” Flynn testified. Inflammation surrounding the bite marks indicate the attack lasted at least two hours, he said.

A necropsy revealed the rat was “ravenous . . . it would eat anything it could get its mouth on,” Flynn testified, adding that the rat’s digestive tract was empty except for blood, hair and bits of flesh from the child, Flynn testified.

The infant also had not eaten in the past 24 hours before his death, according to the autopsy, Flynn said.

After Flynn’s often-graphic testimony about the death, Orange County Municipal Judge Phillip R. McGraw ordered both parents to stand trial on two felony counts each of child endangerment and one felony count each of involuntary manslaughter. They face a total of more than seven years in prison if convicted.

Another homeless couple who saw the Gigueres the night before the death said Kathyleen Giguere ignored her son as he cried, Flynn testified at the hearing.

“The baby was crying loud and (Kathyleen Giguere) was hollering at the baby to shut up,” Flynn testified, quoting a couple he identified as Darryl and Andra Moore. “No one checked on the baby. No one responded to the baby’s cries.”

The couple’s 3-year-old daughter, Karissa, was also in the car, but was not injured. The girl now lives with Steven Giguere’s father and stepmother, but social service officials hope to reunite the Gigueres and their daughter, defense attorneys said.

The Gigueres claim they began living in their car after Steven Giguere, 27, lost his two jobs last year. Steven Giguere has prior convictions for drunk driving and possession of marijuana.

Kathyleen Giguere, 30, was once arrested on a drug charge but never prosecuted. She has prior misdemeanor convictions that date back several years, including one for writing a bad check.

Friends and neighbors told police the couple lived in filthy conditions and used their welfare money and food stamps for narcotics, Flynn testified at Tuesday’s hearing. Police said the Gigueres’ station wagon was strewn with junk food and lice-infested clothes and blankets, Flynn testified.

The couple kept the pet rat, named Homer, despite prior incidents in which the rat bit the Gigueres and their daughter, Flynn said. He testified that one neighbor recalled asking Kathyleen Giguere about Karissa’s bloody finger.

Kathyleen Giguere responded that “Homer got mad and bit her,” Flynn said.

Before the death, county social service workers received five complaints about the couple, including one from the infant’s grandparents. No action was taken.

McGraw reduced bail for the couple from $100,000 each to $25,000 each, but defense attorneys said the indigent couple cannot afford to post the bond.