A Livonia mother has been charged in connection with the death of her infant son in what police believe was the result of an unsafe sleeping situation.

Leslie Neuman, 32, has been charged with involuntary murder and second-degree child abuse after her baby died of suffocation, according to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office.

Police say they responded to a home on Iowa Street in Livonia around 6 a.m. Dec. 29, 2016. There they found an unresponsive infant laying on a couch. The baby was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Livonia Police Capt. Robert Nenciarini says an investigation revealed Neuman had fallen asleep with the baby around 11 p.m. the night prior in her bed.

"The bed was right up against the wall and the baby got wedged between the bed and the wall," he said.

Nenciarini says the mother had been drinking that evening so there is an alcohol component to her charges, but did not know her BAC or how many drinks she had consumed.


He says she was cooperative and turned herself in to police on Monday.

According to the judge, Neuman has two older children and has been warned about co-sleeping before, even signing a document to say she would no longer do it.

"We tell you do not sleep with your baby, and this is why you do not do that," Nenciarini said.