California mom charged with murder after meth found in stillborn baby’s system, police say

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

A California mom is facing a first-degree murder charge after an autopsy found that her stillborn baby boy had methamphetamine in his system, authorities said.

According to KGPE-TV, police arrested Chelsea Cheyenne Becker, 25, of Hanford, early Wednesday, nearly one month after she delivered the stillborn fetus Sept. 10. The Kings County Coroner's Office determined that the infant died from "toxic levels" of the drug, the Hanford Sentinel reported.

"The levels of methamphetamine in this baby's system were such high levels, even for an adult, so we believe she was using almost the whole entire time she was pregnant," Hanford police Sgt. Justin Vallin told KGPE.

Becker's aunt, Julie Lance, said her niece's three other children also were born with meth in their systems, KGPE reported. Lance has custody of two of the children, and another family adopted Becker's oldest child, she told the news outlet.

Becker is being held at the Kings County Jail on $5 million bond, the Sentinel reported.

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