Salem Woman Charged w/Murder of Three-Month-Old Daughter

(CHRISTINA THOMASON)

A 23-year-old Salem woman has been charged with two counts of first degree murder in connection with the Tuesday morning death of her three month old child. Bond on the arrest warrant for Christina Thomason is set at $1-million. Marion County State's Attorney Matt Wilzbach says Thomason admitted to the circumstances that led up to the suffocation death of Aribella Thomason. Christina Thomason was brought in for questioning a second time by the Child Death Review Task Force after a child forensic pathologist who conducted an autopsy on Tuesday said her initial story did not match the evidence.

"During the course of that interview, she ultimately acknowledged the baby was crying, she could not get the baby to stop crying, so she put the baby in the bassinet, covered her up with several blankets, including covering up her face, mouth and nose, and proceeded basically to go away for an hour," said Wilzbach. "Obviously when she came back the baby was dead which prompted her to call 9-1-1."

Wilzbach says during that hour after Thomason had allegedly placed the blankets over the baby, she spent 10 to 15 minutes on the stool in the bathroom until the baby stopped crying. She then told the Child Death Review Task Force she took about a 35 minute shower. She then got her two-year-old daughter up. At that point she checked on the baby and made the 911 call that the baby was not breathing. Wilzbach says Thomason acted calmly during the 9-1-1 call. He reports the mother was the only adult present in the home at the time of the incident.

During the questioning, Thomason reportedly brought up seeing CSI type shows where it took about an hour for a baby to suffocate. After the arrest late Wednesday afternoon, Thomason's two-year-old daughter was taken into protective custody by the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services. A shelter care hearing is scheduled in court this morning. Wilzbach says Thomason has a third child who is under the guardianship of another family member. Judge Ericka Sanders signed the arrest warrant Wednesday afternoon following Thomason's new statement. Wilzbach reports one of the first degree murder counts claims Thomason intentionally killed her daughter. The second count claims Thomason's actions created a strong probability of death to the child. Thomason is expected to make her first appearance in court on the charges today.