Police examined the coroner’s office report on April 10 and discovered that the infant’s liver contained 3.210 ethanol, which is fatal for a tiny child.
The parents of the alleged murderer were summoned to the West Virginia State police station in Sutton, where they reiterated their earlier claim that their daughter was healthy and not taking any medication.
They were called back to the station two days later on April 16 and allegedly gave detectives their startling confessions.
Talbert informed the police When the baby got restless and agitated, Smith “would take alcohol and rub on the infant child’s gums and around her mouth,” according to WBOY.
They “would both rub alcohol on the infant’s gums and they had done it almost every day for a month prior to the infant’s death,” Smith clarified, adding to her point.
There is a highly disapproved-of old wives’ tale that suggests rubbing alcohol on a baby’s gums to help them fall asleep and calm teething children.
