U.D. mom held in her infant’s asphyxiation death
A 34-yearold Upper Darby woman has been held for court on charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children for the 2021 asphyxiation death of her daughter, 5-month-old Ari Tucker.
“This case is a tragedy for all involved: for the infant girl who lost her life, as well as for her family and for the community,” said District Attorney Jack Stollsteimer said Friday. “While the defendant may not have intended to cause her daughter’s death, her actions in ingesting drugs and cosleeping with her tiny infant clearly set the stage for this tragedy.”
Elise Toodles, of the 400 block of Croyden Road, is accused of neglecting the child while coming down off an ecstasy or Percocet high and allowing the 5-month-old girl to suffocate with a plastic bag wrapped around her head.
Upper Darby police were called to the Croyden Road home about 1:16 p.m. Jan. 7 for a report of an infant suffering from cardiac arrest, according to police. Officer Michael Taylor assessed the child and pronounced her dead.
Delaware County Detective Christopher Kerr arrived and found the baby lying on the floor of the first-floor living room with dried blood on her face a pink frothy fluid coming from her nose, according to Kerr’s affidavit of probable cause.
A subsequent autopsy determined the baby died from, or as a consequence of, asphyxiation and smothering by plastic bag while “co-sleeping,” which is when parents and children sleep together.
Kerr’s account continues: Toodles was hysterical and telling Taylor that the baby had a plastic bag wrapped around her head when Kerr arrived. Toodles allegedly told Taylor that she had been sleeping with
Tucker and did not know where the bag came from.
Kerr checked the bedroom and found plastic bags on the floor. A twin bunkbed in the room had a mattress but no sheet, and a plastic covering over the mattress was torn and on the mattress’s sleeping area.
Kerr did not locate a crib, but did find a plastic bag on the floor with what appeared to be aspirated blood that later tested positive for Tucker’s DNA.
Toodles provided detectives a written statement later that same day that indicated she woke up about 6 a.m. to feed Tucker and change her diaper. Toodles said she spoke to her 9-yearold daughter for about an hour, rocked Tucker, then went back to sleep.
Toodles said she did not wake up at all between 7:30 a.m. and 1 p.m., when her adult housemate, identified only as “O.W.” in the affidavit, tapped her on the leg.
Toodles woke to find Tucker behind her with a plastic bag around her head. She told detectives she had not heard the baby crying at all and that Tucker was acting normally during her earlier feeding.
Toodles said that when she put Tucker back to sleep, the 9-year-old and a 3-yearold boy were sleeping at the top of the twin bed, with Tucker and Toodles in the middle of the bed and Toodles positioned closest to the wall.
O.W. provided detectives a statement that he heard the baby crying about 10:14 a.m. and looked into Toodles room to find her sleeping on a chair. He said he returned to his room and slammed the door in an attempt to startle Toodles into waking up and tending to Tucker.
O.W. said that he heard the floor squeak about 20 seconds later and the baby stop crying. Around 12:45 p.m., he returned to the room looking for another child living in the house and saw the baby laying face-down on the bed.
“O.W. stated that they screamed at Toodles to get her baby and she jumped up, picked the baby up and screamed ‘my baby’s dead.’ ”
The housemate clarified in a later interview that he saw the child lying facedown on a pile of clothes at the foot of the bed when he returned to the room about 12:45 p.m. and did not see any plastic bags on or near the baby.
Later confession
Toodles provided a follow-up statement on Nov. 21, 2021, that altered some of her previous statements to police. Toodles said she and the children had gotten home around 11 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2021, and that she and the 9-year-old stayed up all night talking.
Toodles said Tucker woke up around 6 a.m. and she laid the baby back down next to her on the bottom bunk at about 8:30 a.m. to sleep, according to the second statement. The 9-yearold and 3-year-old were also in the same bed, she said.
Toodles again said she was woken by O.W. about 1 p.m. and found Tucker behind her thighs with a bag wrapped around her head. Toodles said she thought she fed Tucker around 6 a.m., but did not know where the bag came from or how it got around Tucker’s head and did not remember seeing any bags on the bed prior to falling asleep, the affidavit says.
“Toodles stated that the night of the incident she took ecstasy and/or Percocet but she’s not sure because they ‘both keep you up,’ ” the affidavit says.
“Toodles stated that she took them approximately 2-3 hours before getting home. When questioned of the duration of the drugs she stated that she may start ‘coming down’ around 5-6 hours after ingestion. Toodles stated that after ‘coming down’ from the drugs she gets tired and that the day of the incident, she slept a long time.”
‘Neglect and impairment’
Dr. June Elcock-Messam, a pediatrics specialist in Wallingford, was consulted about the case and concluded that while Tucker’s death was not intentional, it was a direct result of her mother’s “neglect and impairment,” the affidavit says.
“While heartbreaking, what happened on Jan. 7, 2021, was a tragic accident,” said defense attorney Michael Dugan. “It’s not a crime as the commonwealth has charged. Miss Toodles is still grieving the loss of precious Ari.”
“We can be sure that the defendant will suffer for the rest of her life for the neglect and the impairment that led to her daughter’s death,” Stollsteimer said. “However, the law must also take account of her behavior, which is why she has been charged with involuntary manslaughter. I can’t say it enough, but to protect our children, we must support the members of the community who are struggling with addiction, both for their sake, and for the sake of the innocent people who depend upon them.”
Toodles remains incarcerated at the county jail in Concord in lieu of $500,000 bail.
Magisterial District Judge Christopher Mattox has scheduled formal arraignment for April 12 at the county courthouse in Media. Deputy District Attorney Kristen Kemp is prosecuting.