In trial, mom said to endanger infant

Baby not fed enough, prosecutor says

HOT SPRINGS — A felony trial began Tuesday in Garland County Circuit Court for a woman accused of endangering her newborn son who was found to be malnourished, according to reports.

Summer Rose Kazzee, 20, of Hot Springs was arrested July 17, 2016, and charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a minor.

The child’s father, Kody Nathaniel Weber-Kio, 22, was arrested on the same charge July 19, 2016. His trial is to begin Thursday.

Deputy prosecutor Kara Petro told the jury of six men and six women Tuesday that Kazzee gave birth April 24, 2016, to “a healthy baby boy” who weighed 6 pounds, 14.8 ounces.

He was “doing well” at his first checkup April 28, Petro said, but he missed his next two scheduled appointments. Both parents took the nearly 8-weekold child to his June 20 appointment, where it was noted that he weighed 6 pounds, 7.5 ounces, less than what he weighed at birth, Petro said.

At that point, doctors hospitalized the infant.

Petro said the parents gave different reasons for the baby’s condition, and Kazzee’s behavior was described as “erratic” by hospital personnel, who said it appeared “she didn’t want to feed him.”

Petro said Kazzee kept leaving the hospital room to go smoke and would leave the baby alone on the bed. During three days of hospital care, the baby gained weight rapidly and his health thrived, Petro said.

The child was placed in foster care, Petro said. Within a month, he weighed 10 pounds and “continued to gain weight at a rapid rate.”

“The only reason for his condition was that his mother was not feeding him enough and was putting his health and life at risk,” she said.

Kazzee’s attorney, Clay Janske, told the jury that he did not disagree with a lot of the facts the prosecution would present in the trial, but “there is a whole lot more to this case.”

“The important thing to consider is whether it happened purposefully or not,” Janske said.

Mary Smith, a registered nurse, testified that when the baby was initially discharged from the hospital, she gave the parents a four-page handout explaining how to properly care for the baby and went over all of the information with them.

Dr. Gregory Whorton said he first examined the child on April 28, four days after the baby was born, and he did not note significant concerns.

He said the parents did not keep a May 4 appointment or a June 16 appointment. They took him to the doctor June 20, and the child was “very small, underweight and malnourished.”

He said Kazzee initially told him she was feeding the baby 4 ounces of formula three times a day, which would not have been enough. He said Weber-Kio told him later that Kazzee had been mistaken and that it was 4 ounces every three hours, which would have been the appropriate amount.

Whorton said the couple told him the baby spit up “forcefully at times,” but subsequent tests found nothing significant.

Whorton said there was no medical reason for the child’s weight loss other than inadequate caloric intake. He noted that the child gained weight immediately in the hospital.

Under cross examination by Janske, Whorton said he could not recall which parent took the baby in for his first appointment April 28 and that it could have been only Weber-Kio, who was told when to bring him back.

When asked if the baby’s continual spitting up could have contributed to his malnutrition, Whorton said it could have affected his calorie intake.

The trial is to continue today.