A 23-year-old woman accused in 2018 of murdering her baby after she allegedly confessed to smothering him during a crying fit pleaded guilty last month to a significantly reduced charge.
Four months after Hudsyn Day died at 37 days old, Bremerton police and Kitsap County prosecutors accused his mother, Amelia Lynn Day, of holding Hudsyn against her body to the point that she killed him.
Day initially told investigators Hudsyn had been sleeping in a bassinet-like device. She later said he had been crying and after holding him to her body he quieted down and then she went to sleep with him next to her. When she woke up, Hudsyn wasn’t breathing.
Authorities alleged Day was overwhelmed by the demands of caring for a crying baby alone. She was living on a roommate’s couch and authorities cited her history of mental illness and lashing out when frustrated.
State Child Protective Services caseworkers received two complaints about Day, 23, during Hudsyn’s short life, however, a committee review by the state department that oversees CPS — the Department of Children, Youth and Families — found workers did not have enough evidence at the time to take Hudsyn from his mother as well as “an absence of any identified catastrophic errors or significant policy violations.”
Three doctors were consulted
Day was charged with second-degree murder for Hudsyn’s Nov. 24, 2018, death but she pleaded guilty on July 27 to a count of second-degree manslaughter.
Further, Day entered an “Alford plea,” meaning she did not actually admit guilt, only that she admitted there was likely enough evidence to convict her of the manslaughter charge at trial. She was sentenced to 23 months, essentially time served, her attorney said.
Attorneys on the case said the plea deal came after three pathologists were unable to rule that Hudsyn died of homicide based on physical exams. One pathologist hired by authorities, however, ruled Hudsyn died of homicide but only after he was told that Day had confessed.
“Three pathologists all agree there is no way of knowing from the physical evidence what was the cause of death,” said Cal Cunningham, Day’s defense attorney. “It could have been SIDS, it could have been an accidental rollover from co-sleeping. The state’s theory on murder was intentional assault. To us that never made sense as a cause.”
The risk of a conviction at trial to a more serious charge made the deal difficult to pass up, he said.
Cunningham said Day loved Hudsyn.
“Which is why (like any parent would) she blamed herself for his loss, and this made it easier for detectives to convince her that she must have caused his death,” Cunningham wrote in a text message.
Deputy Prosecutor Phil Bacus said he felt the second-degree murder charge was the right call and noted homicide wasn’t ruled out by the pathologists, but he doubted the available evidence would convince a jury.
“Given the case that we had and all the factors going on, I feel that it was just,” he said of the 23-month-sentence, adding: “When it comes down to it, it’s ‘What are we able to prove at trial?’”
First CPS complaint was from roommate
Bremerton police first became aware of Day and Hudsyn on Nov. 14, 2018, 10 days before Hudsyn’s death.
The next day CPS received word that an officer went to the East Bremerton apartment where Day and her newborn lived on a couch. The roommate called 911 to report that she thought she heard Day hit or swat Hudsyn, who then started screaming.
The roommate told the officer Day was overwhelmed by Hudsyn’s incessant crying and needed help.
“I informed her that I don’t have any resources for her,” the officer wrote in his report.
Day denied hitting Hudsyn and told the officer she was overwhelmed and tired. The officer checked Hudsyn, didn’t see any obvious injuries, and left. Before leaving, however, he told Day to not get mad at the baby.
“I explained to Amelia that even though she is tired and feels overwhelmed Hudsyn’s welfare is the most important,” the officer wrote.
Child Protective Services workers contacted Day and, concerned about her co-sleeping with Hudsyn — something she said helped the two actually get to sleep — gave her a Fisher-Price Rock n’ Play Sleeper.
The sleeper would be recalled about five months later when it was blamed in the deaths of more than 30 babies since 2009.
Second CPS complaint was from baby’s doctor
On Nov. 21, 2018 — three days before Hudsyn died — CPS received another report about Day, this time from Hudsyn’s pediatrician in Port Angeles.
The doctor said that Day had missed an appointment for Hudsyn. The doctor reported that a nurse had called to check on Day and Hudsyn and during the call, Day swore at the nurse.
Day has a diagnosis for bipolar disorder and anxiety, the doctor said, and following her doctor’s advice she had stopped taking her medications while pregnant.
When a CPS worker asked what the doctor’s concerns were, the doctor said the “two biggest concerns is (sic) that Amelia is not following through with appointments to have the baby properly examined and the mental health status of Amelia,” the caseworker wrote in documents filed by prosecutors in Kitsap County Superior Court.
DCYF: CPS only had case for 10 days
In addition to not identifying errors or policy violations, the committee review of CPS found that when Hudsyn died at 37 days old, “the case had only been open for 10 calendar days (five working weekdays) and was in the very early stages of the investigative and assessment process.”
The review noted, however, the department had been “messaging concerns” to caseworkers about products like the Rock ‘n Play Sleeper for a year before Hudsyn’s welfare came to its attention.
“The committee did not reach consensus as to whether the Rock ‘n Play provided for the child actually contributed to the infant death, but a majority of committee members called to question that decision,” the review found.
Though the review stopped short of making findings critical of CPS, it did recommend child welfare workers resume training for recognizing “parental ambivalence” and said the department should continue emphasizing the importance of assessing the safety of sleep products for babies.
A CPS caseworker told investigators she checked back with Day the morning of Nov. 24, 2018, knocking on the apartment door at about 10 a.m.
“She believed that she may have woken Amelia up with her pounding on the door and that that may have been when Amelia discovered Hudsyn had died,” a detective wrote.