Records: Baby who died while in bed with mom previously tested positive for cocaine

EDINBURG, Texas (ValleyCentral) — Records provided new details in the moments leading up to the death of a newborn baby girl, who previously tested positive for cocaine.

Viridiana Nieto, 24, the mother of the 2-month-old girl, had reportedly been on a drug binge and allegedly slept most of the day, according to an Edinburg police investigation.

Records indicate that Nieto's friends did a welfare check on her after she did not respond to them for multiple hours and was believed to be on drugs.

A police narrative obtained by ValleyCentral states that her friend was in contact with Nieto via phone from 6:50 a.m. Feb. 9 to 7 a.m. Feb. 10. On Feb. 9 her friend told authorities that she was constantly communicating with Nieto because she wanted to party with her since she had bars, cocaine and marijuana.

On their phone call at 7 a.m., her friend stated that Nieto fell asleep on the phone prompting her to hang up. She also noted that Nieto sounded like she was under the influence because she was speaking slowly and had trouble getting her words out.

Throughout the day Nieto's friend attempted to get back in contact with her but was unable to reach her. She even got other loved ones to reach out to Nieto to no avail. At 6 p.m. Feb. 10 her friend decided to go to Nieto's home and check in on her.

When she arrived at Nieto's place she found her asleep and her 2-month-old baby face down on the bed next to her with a purple face. This is when she called 911.

Authorities responded to the residence at 6:18 p.m. to an unresponsive baby. The baby was reported to have closed eyes, clenched hands, a blue face, and her tongue was lodged to the roof of her mouth.

The newborn was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Detectives obtained search warrants to go through Nieto's phone, which corroborated her conversations with her friend. A search warrant of the residence revealed marijuana, vape and multiple smoking pipes at the location.

A deeper investigation by authorities revealed that the baby was taken to get a checkup as requested by Child Protective Services before her death. That checkup showed the newborn tested positive for cocaine.

The day after her death an autopsy was conducted which revealed no significant trauma. The baby's cause of death is still pending, awaiting toxicology and histology reports.

That same day, authorities issued a warrant for Nieto's blood tests. They learned that she had been admitted to Knapp Medical Center in Weslaco for suicidal ideations.

Nieto's drug results from the hospital were positive for cocaine, cannabinoid, and Xanax.

Authorities say their investigation into Nieto led to multiple charges being filed against her; including criminally negligent homicide, endangering a child, possession of a controlled substance such as THC vape pens, and possession of marijuana.

A warrant was issued for Nieto’s arrest on April 21. However, at the time, she was in Fort Worth.

The U.S. Marshals helped locate Nieto and take her into custody on May 6.

She was formally arraigned May 15 and issued a bond of $1 million for the criminal negligent homicide, $500,000 for endangering a child, $25,000 for possession of a controlled substance and $7,500 for possession of marijuana.