DA: Mom Fell Asleep,
Smothered Twin Babies
By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com
COOPERSTOWN – Kimberly Steeley, the woman accused of smothering her twins Bonde and Liam in 2018, did so by falling asleep while in bed with the children, District Attorney John Muehl told Judge John Lambert during a suppression hearing in Otsego County Court on Monday.
“She told police she nodded off in bed with them,” he said. “She was reckless, and there is evidence that she was abusing prescription medication to the point of intoxication while she was caring for them.”
Muehl also asked that Steeley’s three DUI convictions, including one in the Town of Maryland in January 2018, five months before the twins’ deaths, should be used as evidence to her recklessness in her upcoming trial.
“She was getting smashed while taking care of her kids,” he said. “I say this directly caused their deaths.”
In May, Steeley was indicted by the Otsego County Grand Jury on two counts of second-degree manslaughter for the death of Bonde and Liam. The twins were barely a month old at the time of their deaths, which came 16 days apart in June 2018. Though she initially told police she found them unresponsive in their bassinets, Muehl said in court that she told police she slept in the same bed with the infants.
An autopsy listed the deaths of both children as asphyxiation.
She remains free on a $100,000 bond. Muehl said he offered a plea deal, but that it was rejected. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years incarceration.
Judge Lambert has said he will issue a ruling on the evidence within the coming weeks.
I would like to think that the otsego county should also be liable as they knew how the first baby died under her care and they allowed her to continue to care for her second child. If that baby was removed from her care the child would still be alive today. Also they knew from this article that this mother was charged with DWI while being pregnant and child services did not step in at that time. If they did then both babies would be alive today. So I ask you who else is at fault?
The father of the twins & grandparents should be held accountable also. Three other adults under the same roof & no one did anything to save these poor newborns. Disgraceful!
I have to respond to this when my daughter died I was told it was sids I loved Bonde and Liam from the day I found out she was preagnat but your right I couldn’t save my angels I live with the pain everyday and truthfully I can’t deal with it Jhon Muehl has the truth I can’t explain to you people what it feels like to hold my babies limp little body’s it’s like a bad dream that doesn’t go away and I have nothing else to say