ELIZABETHTOWN WOMAN CHARGED WITH HOMICIDE FOR SUFFOCATING HER INFANT DAUGHTER

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An Elizabethtown woman is charged with killing her infant daughter, who was found unresponsive last month at her home.

Elizabethtown police on Monday charged 23-year-old Candace Parrow with homicide, aggravated assault and strangulation regarding the July 16 death of the 4-month-old girl.

Parrow was arrested at her home Monday afternoon. She was arraigned by District Judge Robert Herman.

Anyone charged with homicide in Pennsylvania is not eligible for bail. Parrow is presumed innocent.

Following autopsy, the child’s death was ruled a homicide caused by strangulation and suffocation.

Police determined Parrow had sole custody of the child at her East Orange Street apartment on the evening of July 16. The child appeared healthy earlier in the evening.

Here is a narrative of the incident and events before and after:

Police responded to the apartment just after 10 p.m. and found the child unresponsive, discolored and beyond help.

The child was transported to Hershey Medical Center where she was pronounced dead about an hour later.

At the apartment, Parrow was very distraught and made statements about being “blamed again for this.” Police determined Parrow had a previous child who died out of state.

A neighbor was also at the apartment when police arrived. Parrow summoned her to come over after telling her the child was dead.

The child’s father, Parrow’s paramour, was at work from 2:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., when he left work after being notified of the incident. The paramour’s supervisor, and his time card, confirmed he was at work in that timespan, meaning Parrow was home alone with the child.

The paramour told police he had a FaceTime conversation with Parrow, about 8:30 p.m., and the child appeared healthy, as she did before he left for work.

Parrow told police that she put the child down to sleep, went to another room to do dishes and returned, about 10 minutes later, to find the child unresponsive.

An investigation revealed Parrow did not wash dishes – there were few dishes at the home and those found were dirty.

Also, Parrow’s version of what took place changed during separate interviews.

The paramour mentioned Parrow had previous issues with the child crying and Parrow would become very upset.

Elizabethtown police Detective Dustin Ryan filed charges, which were approved by Assistant District Attorney Karen Mansfield.