ATLANTA — An Atlanta mom now charged with murder in the death of her 6-month-old daughter allegedly did not call 911 until "several hours" after the baby was already dead, according to arrest warrants.
That and other new details on the case are contained in the warrants. The baby was found dead on Sept. 30 after police responded to a home on Center Street in Atlanta's Carey Park neighborhood.
According to the warrants, it was clear the baby had been dead for "an extended period" by the time she arrived at a hospital, as staff were "unable to obtain a temperature for (the infant) because her body was too cold."
An autopsy later performed by the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office found the baby girl had "contusions on both cheeks, bruising on the sides of the neck, bruising on the top of the skull, subdural hemorrhage of the midline of the brain, swelling of the brain, and hemorrhage on the left optical nerve."
"The injuries were consistent with blunt force trauma," the warrants state.
Police further state in the warrants that they did not find explanations provided by Speight about what had happened credible.
The mom was interviewed the day of the infant's death and, according to the warrants, told police the girl had been acting normal earlier in the day "and when she checked on her around noon, she noticed (the baby) wasn't breathing like normal."
The mom called 911 just after 1 p.m. Police noted her account wouldn't be consistent with the determination the child had been dead for hours by the time she arrived at the hospital and was pronounced deceased at around 2:30 p.m.
In a follow-up interview with an officer and representative from the Fulton County DA's Office, Speight "repeatedly denied any fault in (the baby's) injuries before eventually stating that she accidentally caused (her) to hit her head against the railing of (her) crib while she was cleaning up in the room." She also allegedly noted in the interview that she'd been upset because she'd been arguing on the phone with the father of one of her other children.
But, the warrants state, the account was "inconsistent with the findings" of the medical examiner's office as to the injuries documented on the baby and how they would have occurred.
The warrant charges Speight with felony murder and alleges she "caused excessive physical pain and the death of her child... by an act of blunt force trauma to (her) head and face."