Woman arrested for suffocating stepson by stuffing wet wipes down his throat

A Pennsylvania woman was arrested on Monday and charged with murder for the death of her three-year-old stepson, who was found with four baby wipes stuck in his throat.

Chelsea Cooley, 31, now faces charges in connection with the child's death, including criminal homicide, strangulation, and aggravated assault of a victim under the age of 6.

On the evening of May 28, Pennsylvania State Police responded to an emergency call reporting a child who choked on wet wipes. The toddler died a day later at UPMC Children's Hospital.

The autopsy revealed that the victim suffered extensive bruising. It also established that the cause of death was homicide by "manual strangulation and asphyxiation due to airway obstruction," according to the police report cited by Law & Crime.

A copy of the arrest report obtained by WJAC-TV claims Cooley made the 911 call and said the child was "cold to the touch, not breathing, and had something stuck in his throat." The call was allegedly made 25 minutes after the woman found the victim in a desperate situation.

Cooley said in an interview with investigators at the hospital that night that the child, whom she referred to as her stepson, was having behavioral problems. Allegedly, the toddler had "a tantrum" and refused to eat lunch that day.  He then went to bed, and when she went to check on him, he had "something stuck in his throat, which appeared to be a wet wipe," the report added.

However, authorities noted that the only wet wipes in the house were stored in the bathroom and not in the child's room.

The affidavit obtained by Tribune-Democrat claims that the baby wipes were so far down the child's throat that he could not have put them there himself, and that the marks on the upper chest and neck appeared to have been caused by an adult's hand.

Ultimately, Cooley was charged with criminal homicide and is being held in the Bedford County Correctional Center without bond.