BREAKING NEWS: Autopsy shows infant died of natural causes, investigation ongoing

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September 5, 2012

BREAKING NEWS: Autopsy shows infant died of natural causes, investigation ongoing

Faith Harper Jacksonville Daily Progress The Jacksonville Daily Progress Wed Sep 05, 2012, 01:21 PM CDT

WELLS — WELLS — The autopsy of a 3-day-old infant, found 15 hours after her death in May, found that the baby died of natural causes.

The Cherokee County Sheriff’s Department received a call regarding the death of infant Faith Pursley at 4 a.m. on May 27, although the death occurred 15 hours earlier around 12:45 p.m. on May 26.

The caller told officials they had prolonged calling first-aid responders because they were praying over the child. The parents are allegedly members of the “Church of Wells.”

Officials said they are unsure of where the baby was born.

“We know the baby was taken from house to house after passing away, so we are not sure where the baby was born and are not sure where the baby passed away,” Detective Dusty Lee said in May.

The autopsy report, which was signed by the medical examiner on Aug. 21, shows the infant died of a heart condition called pulmonary valve stenosis.

According to the U.S. Library of Medicine's website, the disease is a rare disorder involving the pulmonary valve in the heart, where oxygen-poor blood flows to the lungs to be recharged. The valve cannot open wide enough, resulting in less blood flow to the lungs and less oxygen to vital organs.

The site says the disease is usually present at birth and forms while the fetus is developing. The cause is unknown, but it is believed to have a genetic link.

According to the autopsy, performed by Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences at Dallas, the infant was born at home and did not receive prenatal care. There was difficulty getting the baby to a nurse and a delay in reporting the death to authorities.

“You have these things around the country, but this is the first time we have had something this serious in Cherokee County that we have had to deal with,” Capt. John Raffield said in May. “It's going to be a touchy situation.”

Raffield said charges have not been filed but the investigation is ongoing.

“We met with the District Attorney's office and discussed different things and the investigation is still ongoing as far as criminal charges,” he said.

Raffield said the situation is still sensitive.

“Hundreds of thousands of people give birth outside a hospital and hundreds of thousands do not get prenatal care,” Raffield said. “Prenatal care would have saved the baby, (but for) all the women who don't receive prenatal care, are we going to charge them?”

“Then because of how they decided to handle it afterwords, we run into freedom of religion and things of that nature,” he said.

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BREAKING NEWS: Autopsy shows infant died of natural causes, investigation ongoing

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