Left to right: James J. Smith and Angel Talbert (West Virginia Division of Corrections and Rehabilitation).
A West Virginia couple is accused of killing their infant daughter, who died with a fatal amount of ethanol in her system after the defendants allegedly rubbed alcohol on her gums and around her mouth whenever she would get “irritable and fussy.” James Joseph Smith and Angel Talbert were taken into custody last week and charged with one count each of first-degree murder, second-degree murder, child neglect resulting in death, and conspiracy against the state, records show.
According to court documents obtained by Law&Crime, officers with the Braxton County Sheriff’s Department at about 7:52 a.m. on the morning of Nov. 16, 2024, responded to a call regarding a deceased infant at Braxton County Memorial Hospital, about 70 miles northeast of Charleston, West Virginia.
Officers arrived about 30 minutes later and examined the child, describing her face as “discolored as if the baby had been face down.” Authorities then traveled to the child’s home in the 1900 block of Tunnel Fork Road in Gassaway to question the parents.
In an interview with detectives, Smith said that he woke up between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. to use the restroom and check on the baby. When he looked in the crib, Smith said the infant was facedown and not breathing, so he “immediately” had Talbert call 911.
The couple brought the child in the car and drove to the hospital. An ambulance met them along the way, continuing lifesaving procedures until they arrived at the facility. Unfortunately, the infant could not be resuscitated and was pronounced dead at the hospital at about 5:32 a.m., per the affidavit.
Talbert corroborated Smith’s story and told authorities that their daughter had not been sick, nor did she have any preexisting conditions.
Inside the couple’s home, investigators said the living conditions were “very poor,” as they “observed roaches crawling in multiple places throughout the home.” The home also had no running water in the kitchen or bathroom. Smith showed the officers a spigot in the back room of the home, which is where he said they got their water.
“He stated they would fill up containers and take [them] to the bathroom and kitchen when needed,” the affidavit states.
On April 10, police received the findings from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner documenting the victim’s postmortem examination. The report stated that a test was conducted on the infant’s liver tissue and came back positive for ethanol, “with a reading of 3.21.” A doctor informed authorities “that 3.21 would be fatal to an infant.”
Investigators on April 14, 2025, returned to Smith and Talbert’s home and the parents agreed to accompany authorities to the West Virginia State Police Sutton detachment to discuss the results of the postmortem examination.
“After explaining the results the mother and father stated they didn’t know how the alcohol would be in the child’s liver tissue,” the affidavit states. “Both parents stated that the baby was healthy and was not on any type of prescribed medication or over the counter medication.”
Two days later, authorities conducted another interview, allegedly gleaning some insight into how the alcohol got into the victim’s system.
“During the interview [Talbert] told [investigators] that after the first interview on 04/14/2025 that James Smith told her that he would take alcohol and rub [it] on the infant child’s gums and around her mouth when the infant would get irritable and fussy,” the document says. “A short time later James Smith stated that him and [Talbert] would both rub alcohol on the infants gums and they had done it almost everyday for a month prior to the infant death.”
The parents were arrested and transported to the Central Regional Jail, where they are both being held without bond.
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