PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — A 23-year-old woman is behind bars for the death of her newborn baby, deputies said.
Delaila Pino Lasalle, 23, made her first court appearance on Tuesday. Deputies arrested her on Jan. 18 following a lengthy investigation that began last year.
According to probable cause affidavit, Palm Beach County Fire Rescue crews responded to Lasalle's residence near Boca Raton, where she lived with her three other children and her mother, back on March 17 — a month after the baby was born.
Lasalle told detectives she woke up around 6 a.m. to feed her twins when she noticed something was wrong, according to the affidavit. Lasalle said she noticed her baby girl felt a little "softer" than usual, and when sh put the girl to her breast to feed, the baby didn't move. She then rushed to her mother's room to wake her up and her mother called 911. Lasalle said her mom performed CPR on the infant, following instructions from the dispatcher. Once crews arrived, they rushed the unresponsive baby to West Boca Medical Center, where the girl died.
The medical examiner later ruled the girl's death as a homicide, and malnutrition as the cause of death.
About a week after the baby girl's death, her twin brother was rushed to the hospital. A doctor determined he was suffering "severe starvation" and weighed just under 5 pounds, according to the affidavit. Two weeks later, in foster care, authorities said the boy "appeared to be in good health and gain weight."
The Department of Children and Families has since removed the other children from the home.
According to the affidavit, Lasalle had lived in Puerto Rico during most of her pregnancy, but came to visit her mom for the holidays in 2021. Due to complications, and at the request of her doctors, she decided to stay in the United States. She was admitted to Boca West Medical Center just after the New Year for stomach pains, about a month before her twins were born on Feb. 5.
The baby girl had pneumonia, upper respiratory distress, a left cleft lip, and a hole in her heart. She was in the newborn intensive care unit for about two weeks before she went home from the hospital, according to investigators.
However, the medical examiner ruled out that none of the baby's pre-existing medical conditions contributed to the child’s death, according to the affidavit.
Lasalle is facing charges of aggravated manslaughter and child neglect. She is being held on $18,000 bond.
