CASPER, Wyo. — A Casper resident has been charged with criminally negligent homicide in the death of a newborn last summer.
Robert Swenson, 35, heard the misdemeanor charge as well as a felony charge of child endangerment with methamphetamine in Natrona County Circuit Court on Tuesday, Feb. 21.
Swenson is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Casper police investigators responded to Banner Wyoming Medical Center on July 7 last year when medical staff reported that a woman who had just given birth was bleeding out and in critical condition, according to an affidavit.
Staff reported that the father had brought in the baby separately and then walked out the front doors. The baby was pronounced dead. The Natrona County Coroner later ruled the baby had died from blood loss, according to the affidavit.
Investigators said the birth had taken place in the couple’s west Casper residence. An individual who spoke with investigators at the hospital said they had used drugs with both Swenson and the woman on the day of the birth.
Police went to the residence with a warrant to both look for drugs and evidence of the child’s birth and death.
Investigators in the home said they saw a large inflatable pool. On a table next to the pool, police said they found a spoon with suspected methamphetamine residue. Suspected fentanyl and methamphetamine were found with paraphernalia in the bedroom, and several hundred fentanyl pills were found in a block lock box in a closet, the report said. Swenson was charged with conspiracy to deliver fentanyl and is expected to change his plea in March.
Swenson told investigators it was about two hours before he cut the umbilical cord. During that time he said the woman lost a lot of blood. He said he wanted to call 911, but he and the woman were worried about losing custody of the child due to drugs being present in the home, the affidavit states.
Swenson said when he did cut the umbilical cord, the rubber bands they had on hand to clamp it were ineffective, so he went to Walgreens nearby to get dental floss.
The report states that Swenson smoked fentanyl in the car before going in to Walgreens. The investigator’s report noted that security footage appears to show Swenson moving about in an “unhurried” manner while in the store. When he returned home, he said the woman was incoherent from blood loss and the baby appeared to be asleep. He called a friend to take the woman to the hospital, and shortly thereafter the friend took Swenson and the baby as well.
The investigator’s report says that Swenson knew the umbilical cord should have been cut earlier, and that he should have known to call emergency services when he knew something was wrong. It also cites Swenson and the woman’s use of controlled substances before and during the birth.
Swenson said Tuesday that he just spent almost 90 days in a treatment center.
