READING, Pa. — A mother and father allegedly murdered their newborn baby inside a Pennsylvania hospital's maternity ward.
It happened May 2 at Tower Health Reading Hospital.
That's where Kevin Canaan, 28 of Reading, Pennsylvania and Yeniffer Tavarez-Cepeda, 25 of New York, were spending time with their seemingly healthy one-day-old infant inside a private recovery room.
Suddenly the newborn began experiencing medical distress, and died a day later.
Doctors suggested the baby's death was due to physical abuse.
An autopsy later confirmed those suspicions, revealing the baby suffered traumatic internal injuries.
As result, the infant's death was ruled a homicide.
Investigators determined Canaan and Cepeda were the only people in the room with the baby at the time.
"Repeated wellness checks of the infant by medical personnel allowed investigators to conclude that said injuries were inflicted within a short, well documented timeframe," the Berks County, Pennsylvania Sheriff's Office said in a release. "In addition, the investigation determined that both defendant’s observed the infant to be in medical distress yet failed to alert any of the hospital staff."
Both parents were charged on May 19 with criminal homicide.
