LYNN — A Lynn woman was found guilty of endangering her four-month-old baby, who died after being left unattended in a homeless shelter in 2015.
Laci Kirk, 24, who also goes by Laci Brand, was found guilty of wanton or reckless endangerment of a child Wednesday in Salem Superior Court. The verdict came after a week-long bench trial.
Her son, Charles Brand III, was left unattended in a cluttered portable crib filled with multiple blankets, an adult bathrobe, and a stuffed animal, according to a statement from the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. When Kirk went to check on him, she found him unresponsive with a small amount of blood coming from his nose. He was taken to North Shore Medical Center and subsequently to Massachusetts General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
An autopsy conducted by the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner concluded the infant died of natural causes. Still, Kirk engaged in a pattern of “wanton and reckless conduct, leaving her child unattended for several hours at a time throughout his short life,” according to the statement.
The shelter, Independence House in Lynn, had previously filed a report with the Department of Children and Families. A case was opened with the department and services were being put in place at the time of the child’s death.
Essex Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella introduced evidence that proved that Kirk spent the majority of the day her son died with a friend at the shelter, talking, listening to music, and drinking. Responding officers noted that her speech was slurred, she was unsteady on her feet, and smelled of alcohol.
Judge Thomas Drechsler sentenced Kirk to 2½ years in the house of corrections with 8½ months to be served, which she has already served. The balance of her sentence was suspended for three years, during which time she must attend parenting class, seek employment or earn her GED, obtain mental health and substance abuse evaluations, receive any treatment that is deemed necessary, remain drug and alcohol free, and have no unsupervised contact with children under 16.
