North Las Vegas police investigate death of infant found at motel

North Las Vegas police are investigating after an infant born in May with a lethal birth defect was found dead in a motel room where his mother had given birth the day before.

The unnamed boy, identified by the Clark County coroner’s office Wednesday as “Fetus Salas,” was found dead May 6 at the Casa Blanca Hotel, 2401 Las Vegas Blvd. North, according to North Las Vegas Police Department spokeswoman Caitlyn Ebert. The baby’s mother had given birth to twins in the motel room the day before, according to a Clark County Department of Family Services report.

The coroner’s office ruled the infant’s death natural because of “craniorachischisis totalis,” a rare genetic birth defect.

The disease is the most severe form of defects associated with the brain, spine or spinal column and results in the brain and spinal cord remaining open, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ website. Fetuses with the disease often lead to miscarriages or die shortly after birth.

It was unclear if the infant was stillborn when the woman gave birth, as the coroner’s office lists people’s date of death as the day the body is found. The coroner’s office listed the infant’s place of death as a “residence.”

When the mother’s relatives went to visit the woman May 6, she wouldn’t let them inside the room, according to the Department of Family Services’ report. The relatives called police about 8:05 p.m.

“The mother was discovered to have given birth to twins, one of whom was found to be deceased,” the report said. “Concerns were noted with regard to the living environment and circumstances of the birth.”

Ebert said in an email Tuesday that police were still investigating the baby’s death and that no one had been arrested in the case.

More information about the investigation was not available Wednesday, and it was not clear who had custody of the other infant.

According to the Department of Family Services document, the agency had received prior allegations of abuse regarding a member of the infant’s family dating to 2010, four of which were substantiated. It was unclear if the allegations were in regard to the infant’s mother.

In May 2014, a report alleging “abuse and neglect” resulted in the family being “placed under formal supervision,” the document said. While that case was open, the agency received another allegation in February 2015, and both were substantiated.

In November 2015, a court “terminated wardship and custody,” and the case was closed, the document said.

The agency received another report alleging abuse in February 2018 and then a second abuse report “following the birth of another child” in July 2019. “Court action” was initiated in both reports, “with the minors being determined to be in need of protection,” the document said.

Both of those reports were also substantiated. In August 2019, “wardship was terminated with regard to one of the minors,” and that case remained open as of the infant’s death in May, the document said.

Contact Katelyn Newberg at knewberg@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0240. Follow @k_newberg on Twitter.