Background: The Medical Center Enterprise hospital in Enterprise, Alabama (Google Maps). Inset: Chelsey Redmon-Zellers (Pike County Sheriff”s Department).
An Alabama woman has learned her fate after pleading guilty in the “heartbreaking” death of her stillborn son.
Chelsey Redmon-Zellers, 26, was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 years in the Alabama Department of Corrections, the 12th Circuit District Attorney’s Office in the state announced. Earlier that day, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
The case stretches back to March 18, 2023, when Redmon-Zellers’ “fully developed baby boy was delivered stillborn” at Medical Center Enterprise in Enterprise, Alabama. The woman had been transferred from a different hospital, and medical professionals “determined that no fetal heartbeat could be detected.”
Authorities began to investigate the death. The Enterprise Police Department and Coffee County Coroner’s Office looked into the “circumstances surrounding the stillborn birth,” and the infant’s body was sent to the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences for an autopsy and toxicology screening, the 12th Circuit District Attorney’s Office said.
It was these reports that proved revelatory.
“Toxicology results showed that the baby boy had methamphetamine, amphetamine, and fentanyl in his blood,” the district attorney’s office added. “The fentanyl was in an amount that could be lethal to human life.”
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The Pike County Sheriff’s Office took over the investigation, given that’s where Redmon-Zellers resided and where she was when her boy was believed to have died. They learned that the defendant was advised not to use illegal drugs during her pregnancy, but “that advice was not followed.”
12th Circuit District Attorney James Tarbox said his office reviewed the circumstances of the case, and, after speaking with medical experts, determined it made sense to seek a manslaughter conviction.
“The Manslaughter charge for which the Defendant entered a guilty plea is still a very serious charge, and it reflects the completely reckless disregard and lack of care she had for the human life growing inside of her as she continued to ingest meth and fentanyl,” he said.
Redmon-Zellers was originally charged with chemical endangerment of a child resulting in death, per a report at the time from local CBS affiliate WTVY.
An arrest warrant was reportedly issued for Redmon-Zellers on May 1, 2023, but she refused to turn herself in and tried to run away when law enforcement arrived to apprehend her roughly three weeks later, Pike County Sheriff Russell Thomas told the outlet. Deputies caught Redmon-Zellers shortly after.
“This is a tragic case that was difficult to work on for all involved,” Tarbox added. “To have a baby that should have been born and given a chance at life die in this manner is heartbreaking.”
Pike County court records show Redmon-Zellers faced other charges from an arrest in March of this year, including tampering with physical evidence and possession of marijuana.
“This case serves as a sobering reminder of the vital importance of prenatal care, education, and intervention when substance use is involved,” the Coffee County, Alabama, Coroner’s Office said following the sentencing.
