UPDATE, NOV. 28, 12:08 P.M.: A Garden Grove mother accused of killing her 2-month-old son by leaving him to suffocate under a pile of clothes after she'd been on a multi-hour Halloween drinking binge is scheduled to be arraigned in Santa Ana Tuesday afternoon.
The Orange County District Attorney's office (OCDA) announced that Corrina Atuatasi, 27, could get 12 years in state prison if convicted of the charges against her.
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She faces one felony count of involuntary manslaughter by lawful act in unlawful manner, one felony count of child abuse, and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury to a child under 5, according to the OCDA, which says it will request that Atuatasi's bail be set at $100,000
This morning's OCDA statement adds no new details to the joint statement issued Wednesday with the Garden Grove Police Department, other than to note that Senior Deputy District Attorney Susan Price of the Homicide Unit is prosecuting this case..
ORIGINAL POST, NOV. 23, 5:30 P.M.: A Garden Grove mother has been arrested for allegedly killing her 2-month-old son by leaving him to suffocate under a pile of clothes after she'd been on a multi-hour Halloween drinking binge. Corrina Atuatasi, 27, was arrested today and later charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter by lawful act in unlawful manner, one felony count of child abuse, and a sentencing enhancement for causing great bodily injury to a child under 5, according to a dual statement from Garden Grove police and the district attorney. If convicted, she could spend 12 years folding clothes in state prison.
On the night of Oct. 30, Atuatasi watched her baby boy, Aiden Galeai, while her husband and 2-year-old daughter were away visiting family. She is accused of leaving the infant alone in her apartment while she went outside to take a smoke break.
While outside, Atuatasi was invited to a male neighbor's apartment with his two buddies. She allegedly left her baby alone to go drink with the trio, returning to her apartment shortly thereafter to put her kid in his car seat and carry him back to the neighbor's so she could continue pounding drinks for the next several hours.
Police and prosecutors say the mother returned to her apartment with her baby around 4 a.m. on Oct. 31 but went on to neglect the child, who wound up facedown in the pile of clothing. It is unclear whether Atuatasi dropped her baby in the pile and then passed out, or if the child was placed facedown into it, authorities say. In any event, Aiden suffocated to death there.
At about 6 a.m., Atuatasi woke and called 9-1-1 to report she could not find Aiden. Before police arrived, the deceased baby had been moved to a bed, although authorities believe the mother moved him there. Around 9 a.m., Atuatasi is accused of having a blood alcohol level on .23 percent.
She was arrested just after 4 p.m. today and held in lieu of $1 million bail.
OC Weekly Editor-in-Chief Matt Coker has been engaging, enraging and entertaining readers of newspapers, magazines and websites for decades. He spent the first 13 years of his career in journalism at daily newspapers before “graduating” to OC Weekly in 1995 as the alternative newsweekly’s first calendar editor.
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