This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Cache County couple has been sentenced to jail in connection with the death last year of their 11-week-old daughter, which occurred after the parents drank alcohol and went to sleep with the infant between them, according to prosecutors.
Michael Antonio Archer, 24, and Jessica Brunetti, 22, of Smithfield, were charged in 1st District Court with one count each of class A misdemeanor negligent homicide, class B misdemeanor possession of a controlled substance (marijuana) and class B misdemeanor purchase of alcohol by a restricted person (restricted due to a 2015 case of drinking alcohol in a vehicle). Archer was charged with an additional count of possession of a controlled substance (diazepam).
In December, each defendant pleaded guilty to negligent homicide and the other counts were dismissed.
Last week, Judge Keith Kelly sentenced Archer to 90 days in jail and Brunetti to 60 days. They each were fined $750 and ordered to complete substance abuse assessments and any recommended treatment as part of 36-month probations.
In addition, they were ordered to "write a letter to the editor [of the local Herald Journal] regarding the unintended consequences of alcohol and drug abuse," according to the court docket.
The parents, according to a search warrant executed by Smithfield police, shared a twin bed with the infant on Feb. 22. When Archer woke up with a headache about 4 a.m., he moved the baby, who had slid to the end of the bed, to the top of the mattress.
When she did not respond and Archer noticed her blue lips and cold feet, the parents called police. They performed CPR on the infant until responders arrived and transported her to a local hospital, where she died.
"We went to bed with her being fine," Archer told police, "and woke up with her not breathing."
Before going to bed at 1 a.m., Brunetti made the baby a bottle of formula and said they all "passed out" together, according to the search warrant. Deputy Cache County Attorney Spencer Walsh told The Tribune on Tuesday that Archer admitted drinking five beers that night, and claimed Brunetti had drunk six beers, although she admitted to drinking only 2 1/2 beers.
Tests of blood samples taken that day showed Brunetti had a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent, which is the legal limit for driving, Walsh said, as well as THC, the metabolite of marijuana.
There was no alcohol in Archer's blood, but he tested positive for THC and diazepam, also known as Valium, Walsh said.
Walsh said the parents' substance abuse, followed by going to sleep with the baby between them in a twin bed "was negligent ... it impaired their ability to make a responsible and parental decision."
Although a medical examiner could not determine a specific cause of death for the child, the autopsy report said the circumstances were "highly suspicious" of a "positional, compressional asphyxia," in which pressure on the baby prevented her from breathing, Walsh said.
Walsh said that at their sentencing hearings, the parents expressed remorse and said they wanted to move forward without substance abuse in their lives.