Nationwide — Quinzena M. Rancefer, a 31-year-old African American woman from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was sentenced to seven years after pleading guilty to neglect in the death of her 2-month-old daughter. The baby died after she was found face down and trapped beneath a couch cushion while sleeping with her.
Fort Wayne police were called to the home in March 2024 after receiving a report that the infant was in critical condition. According to 21 Alive News, court records said the baby later died from asphyxia caused by overlay and wedging. Rancefer told investigators that her daughter usually slept in a bassinet, but she had the baby in her arms on the night she died.
She said she was sitting on the couch and placed the infant between herself and the back of the couch to keep her from falling. She then fell asleep. Her cousin later woke her, and she realized the baby was not breathing. The cousin told police that when he arrived home, he found Rancefer asleep on the couch with the infant mostly underneath a cushion. He said the baby was face down and lying largely beneath the couch cushion.
The cousin hit Rancefer several times to wake her. She then became hysterical. When investigators later asked her to reenact what happened, she was unable to do so because she was extremely emotional and was dry-heaving, according to court records. She also denied using drugs.
Police found several items connected to drug use inside the apartment, including a glass pipe with burnt residue and a torch lighter. Investigators also found marijuana, Hydrocodone and other prescription pills, along with a bottle of Gabapentin whose prescription label had been removed. A drug test Rancefer took the day after her daughter’s death later showed amphetamine and methamphetamine in her system. A Department of Child Services case manager also told investigators that Rancefer appeared to fall asleep during an interview.
Records also showed that the baby had THC in her system when she was born, although the hospital did not report the result to DCS. A detective cited the baby’s drug exposure, Rancefer’s positive drug test, and the lack of a safe sleeping arrangement as factors in the neglect case. Rancefer pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, and Allen Superior Court Judge Fran Gull imposed the maximum seven-year sentence permitted under the plea agreement.