Mom of Newnan woman accused in baby’s death says daughter is innocent

Police say infant was allowed to sleep on his stomach.

While Cassius Norris was being buried, his parents remained in jail on second-degree murder charges.

Loved ones gathered at the Higgins Hillcrest Chapel at 3 p.m. Wednesday to pay their respects to the 3-monthold, who died March 28 in his Spence Avenue home.

His parents — Adam Brady, 30, and Elizabeth Norris, 23 — were arrested Monday after Newnan police said the couple intentionally let the boy sleep on his stomach, causing him to suffocate.

“The mother and boyfriend were aware of the dangers that having a pillow in the crib and placing the baby on his stomach could cause, prior to the death,” Newnan police Deputy Chief Mark Cooper said.

Brady had come back from working a night shift at a Cracker Barrel restaurant when he discovered Cassius wasn’t breathing and tried to wake him.

The child was found face down on a plush pillow. The crib was covered with blankets, police said.

The official autopsy report has not been completed, but preliminary information indicates Cassius died about 4:30 a.m. that day — roughly six hours before Brady called police.

Elizabeth Norris’ mother, Tersia, said police rushed to arrest her daughter and said Cassius’ death was an accident.

“(There) is no doubt in my mind that my daughter did not do this,” she said in an interview with Channel 2 Action News. “(Cassius) was a good baby. She was a really great mother. I know my daughter would not put that child on his stomach.”

Family of the couple said the use of the long pillow had been Brady’s idea.

“He claims that the baby sleeps better that way,” Elizabeth Norris’ sister Kayla Henderson told Channel 2.

Officers also overheard Brady acknowledge knowing Cassius was dead because of his military training and repeatedly referencing Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

“I heard him refer to it and that his cousin died from it years ago at least four times,” Newnan police Officer J.R. Robinson wrote in his report.

The couple remain in the Coweta County jail.