Doctor: Baby found dead at Henrico motel suffered feeding neglect, recent cocaine exposure

HENRICO COUNTY, Va. — A Henrico judge stated there was enough "probable cause" to certify all charges Monday against the parents of a one-month-old baby girl who was found unresponsive inside a motel room near Richmond International Airport this summer.

Derrick Dwayne Carter and Ashton Marie Leeper are each charged with second-degree murder and child neglect in connection with their daughter’s June 29 death. Henrico County Police announced the charges in July.

The case will now go before a grand jury.

Watch: Baby dies at Virginia motel, parents charged with murder. Court docs reveal what may have happened.

The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner previously confirmed to CBS 6 that the baby’s cause of death was cocaine toxicity and the manner of death was homicide.

During Monday’s hearing, the judge heard testimony from several witnesses, including Dr. Robin Foster, a child-abuse expert at VCU Health.

Foster testified that the baby had severe hyperthermia at the time of death and had experienced feeding neglect. She testified the infant had gone approximately 12 hours without being fed, and a baby that age should have been fed every two to three hours.

Foster also testified that the baby had cocaine in her urine at birth and cocaine in her blood at the time of her death. She said the cocaine detected at death suggested an acute, or recent, exposure.

CBS 6 previously reported that court documents said Carter told police he fed the infant a 10-ounce bottle of formula with rice cereal at approximately 1 a.m. June 29. The documents said he woke about 12 hours later and found the baby stiff and not breathing.

A detective testified Monday about the baby’s sleeping arrangement before she was found unresponsive. According to the testimony, Carter told detectives the baby had been sleeping in a motel bed pushed against an air-conditioning unit, with a pillow between the bed and wall, and had been sleeping on his arm.

Foster testified that the cocaine, circumstances surrounding the baby’s sleep environment, feeding and other factors contributed to her death.

Previous court-document reporting also revealed allegations of drug use inside the motel room. CBS 6 reported that police said a bag discarded by a roommate at the hotel, Christina Ann Snead, shortly before officers arrived contained materials used for smoking cocaine belonging to Carter and Leeper. The parents both tested positive for cocaine during a Child Protective Services screening.

Snead was previously charged with accessory after the fact of murder in connection with the case.

Carter, Leeper and Snead are scheduled to return to court Nov. 24 at 9 a.m. for a status hearing.

The charges against them are allegations. A certification of the charges following a preliminary hearing is not a finding of guilt.

This is a developing story, so check back with WTVR.com for updates. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have info, photos or videos to share.