Mother charged with murder of newborn baby in Georgia

ADAIRSVILLE, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - Police in Adairsville have arrested a mother for allegedly killing her newborn baby by not giving the child its needed oxygen.

Officers were called to the home on 200 North Main Street in Adairsville on Sept. 28, 2018 after reports of an infant not breathing.

When they got to the home, police say they "immediately smelled the odor of burning marijuana" in the house. The home was "very unsanitary," police said, with "numerous dirty diapers as well as an infestation of Roach bugs, and clues to illegal drug usage."

Police found the baby not breathing and with a faint heart beat in a back bedroom. Medics rushed the baby to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

After an investigation and autopsy, officials have arrested the boy's mother, 22-year-old Destiney Diane Wheat, for felony murder in the second degree, among other charges.

Police say that the baby had been wearing a supplemental oxygen mask to treat an ongoing sickness due to a premature birth and other illnesses. During the investigation, officers say they discovered the infant had not been given the oxygen he needed, according to his machine.

Police also said that Wheat checked out her child from the hospital after staff warned her that doing so could kill the child.

Wheat is now in custody in the Bartow County Jail. She's been charged with felony second-degree murder, felony second-degree cruelty to children, and misdemeanor possession of marijuana of less than 1 ounce.