Mom charged with infant daughter's malnutrition death, twin suffered 'severe starvation'

BOCA RATON, Fla. (TND) — A woman in Florida is facing criminal charges for the death of one of her infants.

The baby girl was born on Feb. 5, 2022, and died a month later, on March 17, at a hospital in Boca Raton.

Delaila Pino Lasalle, 23, lived with her three other children and her mother.

The arrest report said on the day of the baby girl's death, Lasalle woke up at about 6 a.m. to feed her twins when she noticed something was wrong. She said her baby girl in the bassinet was sleeping face up and on her back, the same position Lasalle had left her after a 4:30 a.m. feeding. Lasalle said she noticed the baby felt a little "softer" than usual. When Lasalle put the girl to her breast to feed, the baby didn't move.

She "ran to her mother," carrying the baby, and her mother "immediately called 911 and began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on [the baby] per the 911 dispatcher's instructions.

Crews rushed the unresponsive infant to the hospital. The baby girl "was unresponsive, not breathing and without a pulse," according to the arrest report. She died at 7:54 a.m. The emergency room doctor blamed cardiac arrest. The girl's name was redacted in the paperwork.

Later, the medical examiner ruled out "any preexisting medical conditions that could have contributed to" the baby's death. She ruled the girl's death as a homicide, and malnutrition as the cause of death. The Department of Children and Families removed the other children from the home.

Lasalle had lived in Puerto Rico for most of her pregnancy, and it was a complicated one. She went to visit her mom for the holidays and decided to stay, at the request of doctors. She was hospitalized with sharp stomach pains just after the New Year. She was having contractions at 33 weeks and "given medication to prolong the pregnancy," about a month before her twins were born.

Lasalle's twins were born at 37 weeks by emergency Cesarean section. The baby girl had pneumonia, upper respiratory distress, a left cleft lip, and a hole in her heart. She was in the newborn intensive care unit for about two weeks before she went home, according to investigators.

The doctor in the NICU "stated that he did have concerns about the mother's behavior as she refused to listen to the instructions and recommendations made by the medical staff.

The plastic surgeon "did not believe that the cleft lip would cause any issues when it came to feeding or latching.

He also said the family did not show up for a follow-up appointment on March 8, and his office could not reach the family after several attempts.

According to the pediatrician who discharged the newborn, the baby was "sucking, swallowing, and breathing just fine. Baby looked fine. Was growing, developing properly for age.

The follow-up appointment with this doctor was canceled.

The pediatrician also said the baby "should have gained approximately 10 ounces" between those appointments, but lost weight, and the doctor "was very surprised.

About a week after the baby girl's death, her twin brother had to be rushed to the hospital. A doctor determined he was suffering "severe starvation" and weighed just under 5 pounds, according to the arrest report. Two weeks later, in foster care, authorities said the boy "appeared to be in good health and gain weight."

Delaila Pino Lasalle was charged with aggravated manslaughter of a child and child neglect with great bodily harm.

She was booked Monday at 3:35 p.m. Her bail was set at $18,000 and she has not been released.