DETAILS FROM PROSECUTOR:

DECATUR TWINS

ASPHYXIATED

16 DAYS APART

By LIBBY CUDMORE • Special to www.AllOTSEGO.com

DECATUR – Kimberly Steeley’s infant twins, Bonde and Liam, both died from asphyxiation, according to District Attorney John Muehl.

“At first, everyone thought Bonde died of SIDS,” said Muehl. “Then 11 days later, Liam died of the same condition.”

Steeley, 27, Decatur, was indicted on two counts of second-degree manslaughter, one for each child, for recklessly causing the death of her children last June. The twins, born May 15, were barely a month old at the time of their deaths.

According to Rob O’Brien, Otsego Count 911 director, the first call came into the county’s 911 center at 6:28 a.m. on Tuesday, June 5, to a house at 185 Skinner Hill Road, Decatur, where they found the female child, later identified as Bonde Steeley, unresponsive.

At 4:19 a.m., Saturday, June 16, ambulances were again dispatched to the house, where they found Liam in the same condition. Both times, Steeley allegedly reported that she found the children unresponsive and not breathing.

An autopsy listed the deaths of both children as asphyxiation.

Both times, Steeley allegedly told investigators, she found the infants dead in their bassinet. However, following an investigation and additional statements made by Steeley, police believed she intentionally asphyxiated the infants.

Though Muehl initially presented the case as murder, a grand jury chose to indict on manslaughter.

Steeley was arraigned last Wednesday and remanded to the Otsego County Jail on $10,000 cash bail or $100,000 bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 3.