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J."-"'._. ..........~ M. SWEET )1023 E. MAIN )LINN, MO 65051 )DOD 05/31182 )SSN 496-86-3666 )

)Defendant, )

COMPLAINTComes Now, the Prosecuting Attorney of the ounty of Osage, State of Missouri, beingduly sworn and upon information and belief, and stat~ that there is probable cause t o . believethat on or about March 8, 2011, the accused committed the following crimes:!\g)UNTIlThe Prosecuting Attorney of the County ofOsag~, State of Missouri, charges that the

defendant, in violation of Section 568.045, RSMo, committed the class C felony of endangering thewelfare ofa child in the first degree, punishable upon cohviction under Sections 558.011 and560.011, RSMo, in that on or about the 8th day of March] 2011, inthe County of Osage, State ofMissouri, the defendant knowingly acted in a manner th~t created a substantial risk to . the life andhealth ofC.B_W., a child Jess than seventeen years old, ~Yplacing him in a bathtub of water andleaving him with no supervision for an extended period Gftime.!Char-ge Code:.;jf.v,O L/$ '~q ,0

--~-~.COUNTU!

iThe Prosecuting Attorney of the County of Osage. State of Missouri, charges that thedefendant, in violation of Section 565.024, RSMo, com;Jitted the class C felony of involuntarymanslaughter inthe first degree, punishable upon convicjion under Sections 558.011 and 560.011,RSMo, in that on or about the 8th day of March, 2011, in ~heCounty of Osage. State of Missouri, thedefendant recklessly caused tile .death ofC.B.s. by leavi~g him in a bathtub of water unattended foran extended period of time which resulted in him droWll. jfJg.Charge Code: ..-!o o s J q C j , 0 t

The facts that form the basis for this infcrmation and belief are contained intheI!

0101

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law. th~t an arrest warrant issued as! by

anda.L. Grel r # 50319Pr ecuting AttorneyP.O. Box 378L in n, M 4 j) 65051(573) 89V-3101 Phone(573).89V-9951 Facsimile

STATE OF MISSOURI ))COUNTY OF OSAGE )

Amanda L. Grellner, being duly sworn, upon ~er oath, states that she is the duly electedProsecuting Attorney of the County of Osage, State o'[Missouri, and that the facts containedherein are true and accurate to her best knowledge. infrormation and belief

Subscribed and sworn to before me this __ ~ayII

______ .:20_

Clerk

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1. I have probable CWiE! to believe that; Sw~ Radiel M.. ; DOB: 0513111982; SSN:496-86-3666; at 1023 EDt MaiD, LinDt ~wi 65051 wmmitted one or moreer:iminal offe.me.. II2. The fads supporting thls belief aft$fo~rws:

l!On 08 March lOll, Law Enl:hrcement and EM$ units were dispatched to 1023 East MainStreet inLinn, Missouri Inreference to the possible " . of an infant child. Upon arrival,EMS personnel were tending to the child and sub ported the child 10 UniversityHospital in Columbia where the child was later pro~ced deceased, The child bad allegedlydrowned while being given a bath at the family resi~+e~ The child was identified as CooperBentley Sweet, w/m, IXlB: 1211212010.The child ~ r t h e biological son of Racbel M. Sweet.The biological father has not been determined, The ~ed resided ina home at 1023 EastMain Street in Linn Missouri with his mother, his ~ grandmother, identified as CandaceA. Houser" WIF; DOB: 12114/1956, and two femal ., , identified as M. N. H, DOB:0510212003~and B. D. , DOB; 0412412006. The ~ has occupied the home-with the familysince birth. The family has lived at the residence since.Pctober 2010.

On 09 March 2011,. an autopsy was conducted ~ the:intant child by Dr. Carl Stacey ofthe University of Missouri Medical Center inColumbit4 Missouri. Based on th e preliminaryautopsy findings and the known circumstances ~4ing the death, Dr. Stacey opined thecause of death was drowning. J !During the investigation, Iinterviewed ~el Sweet This initially occurred

upon my arrival at her residence the mOmIDg of the inqi~ent. A. . t that time, she stated she hadbeen giving the infant a bath and had stepped out for ttP (2) to three (3) minutes to obtain atowel and diaper and had returned to find the child ~ water. At the time of that interview,EMS personnel were still attempting resuscitation effo~ ina bedroom of the residence. I askedMs. Sweet to show me the bathroom where th e inCi~'tI,hhad occurred. She led me to a c i O , seddoor adjacent to the bedroom where EMS personnel ~ tending to the victim. Ms. Sweetimmediately stepped inside the door, leaned forward a.$dpuUed a plug on what appeared to be ablue and yellow plastic baby bath which was sitting in4i~e the adult bathtub. I reached over Ms.Sweet to try to re-plug the baby tub but was ~ I was however able to d e t e r m i n e thewater inside the baby tub was cold to th e touch. I a l s o . 1 E ' served several S9ap and s h a o J . p o obottles in1 h e , main tub and a small pink in color horse t the tub. There was no :;ignifican:t waterin the main tub. The bathroom floor adjacent tothe m~! ' wet. The ovemJl tempemture inthe

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During the interview, she bathtub morning andhad only left him a couple minutes, and bad toifind him down the bath water.Throughout the interview, Ms,Sweet e x t r e m f y drowsy and at one point fell asleepduring the interview. She claimed not to be under the iWilluenceof any alcohol or controlledsubstances but admitted to having consumed beer and ~quila the previous evening. Throughoutthe entire interview, Ms. Sweet appeared disoriented. $er speech was slurred; she was unable tofocus or concentrate and frequently did not approp~ respond to questions. I did not detectan odor of any intoxicants. II

On09 March 2011, I conducted a videotaped ~ew of Candace Houser. She statedshe had gotten up that morning and bad discovered thej~eceased face down in the bath water.The baby tub was tilted on its side. There was seven db to eight (8) inches of water in the tuband the water was on but running at a "trickle", She ~_ observed Rachel coming out of thebedroom. She removed the child from the tub,. placedF on the bed in the adjacent bedroomand began CPR Ms. Houser states the water felt w a n Q l but describes the child as cold and pale.She also states he was blue around the mouth. She di4ioo t indicate the presence of any rigormortis or lividity. She states she did not wimess the m f f i d e n t and had no knowledge of when thevictim was placed inthe bath. She said the two older ~dren had bathed the previous evening.She revealed that she had discovered over fifty (50) { q . ~ 0 1nazepem} pills missing from herprescription and admitted she has had ~ ~ and concerns about Rachel'sprescription drug abuse. . ii

On 10 Mm:ch 2011" I convened the Osage Couqty Child Fatality Review Panel. Presentat the meeting was Osage County Paramedic Kevin M~ck. Mr. McCormick was theattending paramedic who initially arrived and began ~tation efforts on the child. Hedescribes the child as cold and pale with bluish disool~on around the mouth and face. Heimmediately began CPR and warming efforts. Most si~cantly, he took: the childs temperatureapproximately fifteen (15) minutes into tmnsport and~ved a reading of eighty seven pointfour (87.4) degrees Fahrenheit, indication the child h a d j o o e n submerged in cool water for anextended period of time. II, ,On 11 March 2011, I spoke withM. H. The inf'4rview was conducted inmy office andwas audio .reoorded, MR. stmed that she had disoov~ "Cooper inthe "bathtub", Her motherwas asleep inthe bedroom and she bad gotten her grar#nother and notified her that Cooper wasin the bathtub. Sh,: said it took a wbile to ~e her ~up. M.H. had also indicated thatwhen she w : d her SISter B.S. had.taken. the~ bath that ~g, the water was cold and deep.During the course of'the mvesaganon, we w : ~ .o n t r u : t e d by ateacher at the Linn R-llElementary School, It was reported that on the ev~()f07 March 2011 Rachel Sweet and herchildren, including the victim" were attending a schoo11$.eeting. During t h e meeting numerousattendees expressed concerns about Ms. Sweet's b e b . a : \ l i b r and welfare of her children as sheappeared. 10be ina state of semi-consciousness. At ~e! point, she approached a teacher andIil!

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Osage County Attorney, Amanda filed felony charges ofEndangering the Welfare of Child and Involuntary Manslaughter against Rachel M,Sweet, Linn, Missouri events occurring on March 8, 2011 which resulted in the deathof her infant son, The allegations are that she placed child in a bathtub ofwater then left him unsupervised f O T an extended period

Bond has been set at $75,000.00.