Monster from parents: Mazali baby’s gums Etanol to calm her down. Child died of poisoning

Parents from Western Virginia, James Joseph Smith and Angel Talbert, were arrested and accused of the death of their infant’s daughter after the autopsy showed that the child had a deadly level of ethanol in the body. The couple now faces serious accusations that include murder from first and second degrees and neglecting a child with a mortal consequence.

The incident allegedly occurred on November 16, 2024, when police received a report of a dead baby at the Braxton County Memorial Hospital. Upon arriving at the scene, investigators noticed that the baby’s face had changed color, as if it had been lying downwards for a long time.

Police then went to the Gassaway family home to examine her parents. Smith stated that he woke up between 4 and 5 in the morning and went to the bathroom, and on his return he found a child lying down his face down in the crib and didn’t breathe. He claims that he immediately told Talbert to call an ambulance. Instead of waiting for an emergency arrival, their parents put their baby in the car and headed for the hospital, where they met an ambulance vehicle halfway. Despite the attempts of resuscitation, the child was declared dead at 5:32 in the hospital.

The autopsy was conducted on April 10, 2025, revealed the presence of ethanol in the liver tissue of the infant, with a concentration of 3.21 – a level that is deadly for the infant.

Four days later, police visited her parents to inform them of the results. Initially, they claimed that the baby was healthy and did not take any medication. However, during the new examination on April 18, Talbert changed his testimony and revealed that she and Smith were lubricating alcohol on her gums and around her mouth whenever she became irritable and crying.

– James Smith told her after his first interrogation that he was taking alcohol and rubbed him in the gums and around the mouth of the baby when it would be nervous. He soon admitted that they did so together almost every day during the month before the infant death – the report reads.

Parents were subsequently arrested and transferred to a central regional prison, where they are in custody without a guarantee.