OJAI VALLEY : Baby’s Starvation Is Ruled a Homicide

The Ventura County coroner’s office has ruled that an Ojai Valley baby starved to death in February and that the death should be considered a homicide, authorities said.

But prosecutors said Wednesday that the ruling will not change their charges against the baby’s mother, Pamela Karen Rother.

Rother is scheduled to stand trial later this month on a charge of felony child abuse. If convicted, she faces up to eight years in state prison, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Richard Holmes.

Rother has pleaded innocent to the charge and remains jailed in lieu of $100,000.

“The fact that the coroner ruled the death a homicide doesn’t change our case one iota,” Holmes said. He said the ruling did not take into account Rother’s mental state or any other factors.

Investigators and friends allege that Rother had a drug problem that may have contributed to the baby’s death. The coroner’s office did tests to determine whether the baby had digestive problems that could have caused her starvation. The results indicate that neglect led to her death.

The grand jury that indicted Rother on the child abuse charge refused the district attorney’s request to indict her on the more serious homicide charge in April.

“We do not plan on reopening the matter with the grand jury,” Holmes said.

Two-month-old Rachael Catherine Rother was found dead in the trailer she shared with her mother near Ojai.