Linn baby drowns in bathtub, mother arrested
03.09.2011

Original Story:
Police in Linn are investigating after a two-month old baby drowns. University Hospital confirms the victim was Cooper Sweet. The Linn newspaper the "Unterrified Democrat" reports medics were called to a home on Main Street Tuesday morning and found the infant unconscious in the bathtub. The baby was revived and taken to Children's Hospital in Columbia where he later died. [...]

Update Thursday March 10th 3:55 p.m.:
[...] Neighbors said that they had called Social Services numerous times to check out the situation at Sweet's home. The Department of Social Services won't confirm or deny that they had contact with the family.

Update Thursday March 10th at 9:01 p.m.:
[...] Rachel Sweet is well known in the small town of Linn, but not necessarily for good things. People KRCG spoke with told various stories about the 28-year-old mother. Online court records show in 2008 she pleaded guilty to stealing, that same year she was charged with possession of a controlled substance. One year ago Sweet pleaded guilty to trespassing, then in August of 2010 she was charged with fraudulent use of a credit card. Later on that year, in September she was charged with stealing and was placed on two years of unsupervised probation. Just one month later she pleaded guilty again to stealing. [...]

Update: Wednesday, March 17 at 10:35 p.m.
A Linn woman has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in the drowning death of her 2-month old son. [...]

Update: Tuesday, March 29 at 4:45 p.m.:
Rachel Sweet appeared in Osage County court on Tuesday. She was granted a public defender and a preliminary hearing was set for April 26. Sweet also asked the judge for a reduction in bond, but the judge denied the request.
http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/ne...aspx?id=590995

From the probable cause statement:

During the interview, she maintained that she had placed Cooper in the bathtub that morning and had only left him a couple minutes, and had returned to find him face down in the bath water. Throughout the interview, Ms. Sweet appeared extremely drowsy and at one point fell asleep during the interview. [...] Throughout the entire interview, Ms. Sweet appeared disoriented. Her speech was slurred; she was unable to focus on concentrate and frequently did not appropriately respond to questions. [...]

[Candace Houser, Sweet's mother,] stated she had gotten up that morning and had discovered the deceased face down in the bath water. The baby tub was tiled on its side. There was 7 to 8 inches of water in the tub and the water was on but running at a "trickle". [...] She removed the child from the tub, placed him on the bed in the adjacent bedroom and began CPR. [...] She revealed that she had discovered over 50 {Clonazepam} pills missing from her prescription and admitted she has had frequent arguments and concerns about Rachel's prescription drug abuse. [...]

Osage County Paramedic Kevin McCormick was the attending paramedic [...] he took the child's temperature approximately 15 minutes into transport and received a reading of 87.4 degrees Fahrenheit, an indication the child had been submerged in cool water for an extended period of time. [...]

M.H. [Cooper's 8-year-old sister] stated that she had discovered "Cooper in the bathtub". Her mother was asleep in the bedroom and she had gotten her grandmother and notified her that Cooper was in the bathtub. She said it took awhile to wake her mother up. [...]

[A teacher at the Linn R-II Elementary School] reported that on the evening of 07 March 2011, Rachel Sweet and her children, including the victim, were attending a school meeting. [...] At one point, she approached a teacher and asked to use the restroom, leaving the infant child with the teacher. After approximately 15 minutes, Ms. Sweet was found in a semi-conscious state in a stall in the restroom.
http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/up...sweet%20pc.pdf

Mom Faces Trial in Child's Death
Apr 26, 2011
Rachel Sweet appeared in court Tuesday, waiving her right to a preliminary hearing.

Sweet made the move against the advice of her court-appointed attorney.
http://www.abc17news.com/news.php?id=1907

And according to a search on Case.net, her next court date is June 3, 2011.

https://www.courts.mo.gov/casenet/ca...earchType=name and type in her name