Nearly a year after a Gwinnett County 2-month-old died when an oven was used to heat the house in which she slept, the infant’s mother appeared in court this week to face serious charges.
Jasmine Walker, 30, allegedly fell asleep on a couch after she turned on her oven and left it open to heat her Norcross apartment in November 2021, Channel 2 Action News reported. During testimony at a preliminary hearing Wednesday, Gwinnett police Detective Angela Carter said the baby was bundled up in layers of clothes and left in a car seat nearby, according to the news station.
“They were having heating issues in the apartment,” Carter told the judge.
When Walker woke up, Eden Dilworth was dead.
“There were still areas in the apartment that were reading at approximately 89 degrees,” Carter said. “The baby overheated and sweated profusely and ultimately died because of it.”
But it wasn’t until August of this year that the child’s death was ruled a homicide, Channel 2 reported. It’s not clear why the autopsy investigation took nine months to complete.
Walker was arrested in September, according to online jail records. She faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree child cruelty after causing “cruel or excessive physical or mental pain” to the child, according to the arrest warrant.
The baby’s short life was full of challenges, investigators said in court. She spent three weeks in a neonatal intensive care unit after her birth due to cocaine being found in her system, Channel 2 reported, and the Division of Family and Children Services nearly removed her from Walker’s custody. Instead, a safety plan was put in place, stating that Walker was not to be alone with the infant.
It is not clear why the baby was alone with Walker at the time of her death. Eden’s father was on his way to Alabama when she died, according to the news station. He does not face any charges in the child’s death.
