Pubdate: Wed, 24 Aug 2005
Source: Salt Lake Tribune (UT)
Copyright: 2005 The Salt Lake Tribune
Contact:  http://www.sltrib.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/383
Author: Nate Carlisle
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)

INFANT BATTLES DRUGS, INJURIES

State Seeks 'Do Not Resuscitate' Order; Preemie's Mom Was Shot To Death

A girl born minutes after her mother was shot to death has tested positive 
for three types of narcotics, is suffering from brain injuries and is on 
life support, according to state lawyers.

The lawyers, speaking in a child-welfare hearing Tuesday, asked for a "do 
not resuscitate" order for the girl, whom medical staff reportedly call 
"Janie."

Third District Judge Elizabeth Lindsley said she would have to review 
Janie's medical status before ruling on the state's request and asked the 
lawyers for a formal written motion.

Janie remained in critical condition at LDS Hospital on Tuesday.

Her mother, 30-year-old Darla M. Woundedhead, who, according to court 
records, had two other children born with drugs in their system, died early 
Thursday from a shotgun blast to the chest and upper abdomen.

Police say Woundedhead, who was seven months pregnant, was in Room 26 of 
the Dream Inn, 1865 W. North Temple in Salt Lake City, when she answered a 
knock at the door. Someone fired a shotgun through the doorway, striking 
Woundedhead.

Police say drugs and drug paraphernalia were in the motel room and drugs 
might have been a factor in the shooting. Officers on Friday arrested Kerri 
Armant, 32, in connection with the shooting, but they don't know if she was 
the shooter and are still seeking three unidentified men who fled with her. 
Armant, who has not been formally charged, remained in the Salt Lake County 
jail on Tuesday.

After Woundedhead died, physicians at LDS Hospital performed a Caesarean 
section to deliver her baby.

On Tuesday, Lindsley awarded the Utah Division of Child and Family Services 
temporary custody of Janie. In that hearing in West Jordan, DCFS for the 
first time disclosed details of the girl's medical condition.

Janie tested positive for cocaine, opiates and barbiturates, said Assistant 
Utah Attorney General Annette T. Jan. The girl has a severe brain 
hemorrhage, suffers from seizures, is not responding to pain stimuli and is 
on life support, Jan added.

After the hearing, DCFS Deputy Director Duane Betournay said Janie is 
sedated and on a respirator. Doctors don't know whether she has brain 
activity, Betournay said. He added his office is gathering more medical 
information about Janie before filing a motion formally asking Lindsley to 
issue the nonresuscitation order.

Outside the courtroom, Phil Rivera, an attorney appointed by the court to 
represent the girl, said that although shotgun pellets did not strike the 
child, the trauma to Woundedhead adversely affected her.

The child does not have a legal name, but Rivera said hospital staff 
members have begun calling the baby "Janie," derived from "Jane Doe." In 
court, she was referred to as "Baby Woundedhead."

Betournay said no one has claimed to be the girl's father and no family has 
expressed an interest to DCFS in taking custody of Janie.

Woundedhead was a member of the Oglala-Sioux Tribe in Pine Ridge, S.D. 
Marie Fox Belly, administrator for the tribe's child welfare office, said 
her agency filed a motion to intervene and to have the child eventually 
placed with family. Fox Belly said two of Woundedhead's cousins have told 
her they are interested in taking the child.

"It's really sad," Fox Belly told The Salt Lake Tribune. "We're just hoping 
the best for the little girl."

[Sidebar]

The 'Janie' Case So Far

- -- An unidentified assailant on Thursday killed Darla Marie Woundedhead 
with a shotgun blast at a west-side Salt Lake City motel.

- -- Doctors at LDS Hospital subsequently delivered the woman's baby, two 
months premature.

- -- State lawyers on Tuesday said the baby had been affected by three types 
of narcotics, suffered severe brain trauma and is on life support.

- -- A judge granted temporary custody of the baby to the state and is 
mulling the state's request for a "do not resuscitate" order.

- -- A Sioux Indian tribe child-welfare official said the South Dakota-based 
tribe may intervene because the child's mother was a tribe member.
- ---
MAP posted-by: Elizabeth Wehrman