Strange Objects Found Inside 9-Month-Old's Stomach: Autopsy

A Florida mom is under arrest, accused. of causing the death of her. nine-month-old baby boy, and you will. not believe what the medical examiner. found in the little boy's stomach, which. led to a charge of secondderee murder. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law on. Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Real quick, you know, one of the reasons. why we can cover a story like this, it's. because of our sponsor, Morgan and. Morgan. I'm talking America's largest. personal injury law firm. I'm talking a. firm with over a thousand attorneys who. have recovered $25 billion for more than.

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A woman in Miami, Florida lost a child. last year and unsurprisingly that. prompted sympathy and condolences from. her loved ones and the community. But. police say they allege that little. Sebastian's death was preventable and. that it was his own mother's fault that. he's gone. July 2nd, 2024. According to. Miami Dade County investigators, Sebastian was rushed to a hospital from. the family's apartment where he was. pronounced dead in the emergency room.

And as Sebastian's tiny body was. prepared for an autopsy, Miami Dade. County Sheriff's deputies and homicide. detectives, they opened an. investigation. And this little boy's. mother, Natalyia Munos Paulino, was. devastated at first, right? She posted. memorial photos of the 9-month-old on. social media mourning his loss. But on. Monday, November 10th, 26-year-old Munos. Pino was arrested for his murder. According to an arrest report that was. reviewed by local news outlet WPLG,

Sebastian died from, get this, lethal. levels of methamphetamine and cocaine. To talk about this, what could come from. this, what we should expect, I want to. welcome on criminal defense attorney. Caseia Early. Caseia, thanks so much uh. for taking the time. Um, here's the. thing that's interesting. The medical. examiner apparently determined that the. drugs were physically ingested by this. boy, by Sebastian, rather than being. transferred to him through. breastfeeding. Why is that important.

from a legal context? >> Because it goes to the negligence, the. aggravated abuse charges that's coupled. with the secondderee murder charges. It. shows that she was negligent in keeping. these drugs out in the open. Now, it's. her testimony that she was cradling this. 9-month-old angel. And to her surprise, when she woke up, he was unresponsive, purple, and that's when she called. authorities. But then her story changes.

She tells one person something else. She. tells the police something else. So, it. shows that her intent level was there. because she's covering up what she knows. to be true. And also, if this was. ingested through breast milk, it can. [laughter] could have been goes to. intent. Did she intentionally uh try to, you know, harm the baby knowing that she. was taking drugs and and breastfeeding. at the same time? But the level of. neglect, the level of abuse is actually. leaving the meth, the cocaine out in the.

open. So that this beautiful angel, 9-month-old Sebastian, can ingest these. harmful chemicals. >> You talked about it a little bit when. we're talking secondderee murder here. What is the theory of the case? Right. It's not not necessarily an intent to. kill or is there or is it there's a. substantial risk that's uh that's known. and it's uh there's a you know a. disregard for that because um I think. that's an important distinction here. Right. So she was charged with. seconddegree murder aggravated child. abuse. What what are we talking about. there in terms of the charge?

>> It's the difference between like you. said the reckless disregard, the. depraved mind and the level of intent. So, the seconddegree murder coupled with. the aggravated abuse of a of a child in. this case goes to uh the intent and the. motive of during that time. So, again, we know that the facts of this case is. she claims that she was asleep, but the. issue goes to whether or not there was. some aggravating factors in this case. We know that there were drugs that this. baby uh allegedly ingested that that.

caused this baby to go into this lethal. overdose and ultimately die. So goes to. the depravity as well as the intent. >> A lot more I want to get into, but I. just also want to clarity on the. timeline here because Sebastian died on. July 2nd, 2024. His autopsy was. performed 2 days later, but according to. reporting from WPLG, the medical. examiner didn't rule his manner of death. as homicide until May of this year, and. she wasn't arrested until Monday. Why.

that timeline? It always depends on various factors. because sometimes you can have the. autopsy then the baby is is uh buried. and then later on uh through the. investigation because the investigation. was still ongoing. They had to make a. determination as to based on the. conditions of the home and um to clarify. whether or not it was ingested through. her breast milk or whether there was. possibility that these drugs were out. So there could have been the delay in. the ongoing investigation, but the delay.

in ruling it as a homicide does not mean. that the state does not have sufficient. evidence to move forward with that. homicide. And you have to think that. these um forensic pathologists, they. have other cases. Uh so sometimes it. goes they're they're being processed in. the order that's being received. So a. host of factors could make that. determination as to why there was a. delay in the ultimate ruling of a. homicide. >> Let me go into this a little bit more. So, first of all, we should know that at. 9 months old, according to the American. Academy of Pediatrics, most babies, they're starting to sit up on their own,

roll back and forth from their stomach. to their back and hold things in their. hands. And as we know, once babies have. something in their hands, they're very. likely to put it in their mouths. And. that is what police say likely happened. to again 9-month-old Sebastian. He. somehow got his hands on these dangerous. drugs inside what should have been a. safe and caring environment. According. to documents that were reviewed by WPLG, investigators went to the family's. apartment where they basically found a. gigantic mess. The apartment was.

described as being disheveled, unckempt. There was trash. There was spoiled food. There was clothing. There was used. hygiene products all over the floor. It's disgusting. The arrest report. reads, quote, "The environment was. unconducive for children to live in as. several items which could be harmful to. a child's health and well-being were. scattered on the floor." And the arrest. report also notes that there were items. within reach of children that would be. dangerous. In fact, deputies indicated. that at one point they had to physically. intervene because another child in the. home was drinking baby oil from a.

bottle. And the defendant here, Munos. Pino, wasn't allegedly doing anything to. stop it. So that's right. Sebastian. wasn't Munos Paulino's only child. According to her Facebook page, she had. an older son as well. The arrest report. says that Sebastian's father, he worked. out of state. So, if you were wondering. what the connection is here, but Caseia, let's start there. What happens to the. other child? Does the this other child. stay with the father? Does it depend on. the condition of the home? What happens.

when you're dealing with multiple. children and other children in a home? >> Well, first you have this disaster, right? You have mom on drugs. You have. her allowing her children to live in. deplorable conditions. So, this is a. recipe of just safety and welfare. And. in this case, usually the Department of. Children and Family will do a welfare. check. They will create a report and. they need to find out what is in the. best interest of the child. We know that. dad works out of state. So even though. he's a biological father, he would. technically be the next in line. Does he.

have the capacity to care for the. remaining child and they will do a. detailed check and sometimes that child. will be in place of the state until a. reasonable lodgement is available. whether it's extended family members. But just as you stated, this whole case. is heartbreaking because you had law. enforcement on scene. And mom wasn't. even in the right state of mind to stop. her other child from uh ingesting baby. oil. And we also know that the autopsy. report revealed that 9-month-old. Sebastian not only had eggshells in his.

stomach, but he also had feathers. What. else did he have? Nine-month-old, you're. not even walking at this point. So that. means either mom was not paying. attention to this baby. And as you. stated, anything they put in their hand, anything that they can grasp, they. normally a natural reaction is to put it. in your mouth. So, we don't know what. else he was capable of digestion prior. to this autopsy, but we know one thing. for sure, and this is what the. prosecution is going to have to paint. for the jury, that this baby, even if. the baby was crawling, the baby had to.

get within arms reach of the meth, the. cocaine, in order to pick it up and. place it in his mouth. And what mom is. trying to do is trying to stare that. evidence away by saying, "Well, I did. take drugs, but it was a week prior or u. I don't know how he got that because I. wasn't breastfeeding." The only logical. explanation is you took these drugs, you. were knocked out, and you left it out. within reach. And thankfully, the other. child that she had did not have access. to that. But unfortunately, we know baby.

Sebastian did. And to be clear about. something, a parent's not going to be. arrested for having a dirty home, right? That's not but this is a component. This. is part of the pattern. This is part of. the evidence that prosecutors will use. here. And you mentioned it. So the. arrest report says that when the Miami. Dade Medical Examiner's Office performed. this autopsy on Sebastian, they found. eggshells and feathers inside of his. stomach. And a toxicology report. revealed that there were fatal levels of. both cocaine and meth. and Munos Pino. allegedly admitted to using drugs the.

weekend before Sebastian died while. hosting a party. This is according to. NBC Miami. Couldn't give police many. details there. But the point about this. is Caseia, right? Would she have been. charged if it's one incident? Are they. trying to say this was happening over a. period of time that that's the way. they're going to tell the story, right? It wasn't just an accident where a child. got a hold of something. If this is a. condition that's built up for quite some. time, these deplorable conditions were. built up for quite some time. That seems. to be what um what they're trying to.

suggest here, right? >> But they necessarily don't have to even. prove this whole buildup. It's the fact. that there were deplorable conditions, nasty information, cluttered home, and. you can be charged with that neglect. because it's providing a safe. environment for your child. And if you. have all of these items, you're not. keeping a clean home. it can make the. child susceptible to any uh other. diseases or infections based on this. your your sanitary level. So even if the.

prosecution goes at an angle where yes. this was ongoing they can also say that. she was uh neglected the child simply by. having the drugs present within arm. reach. That in of itself is is not safe. for the child. Yeah, you you're using. drugs, but the question becomes, why did. you have it out for a child that wasn't. able to walk around? It had to be right. there when she fell asleep. >> I just want to ask you real quick about. the father. So, the boy's father. reportedly told investigators that uh.

Munos Pino had previously admitted to. him that she used those drugs. He also. reportedly claims that he once saw drugs. inside of the apartment. From a legal. point of view, would he be criminally or. civily responsible in any way if he knew. the children were in a dangerous. situation but didn't do anything to help. them? I mean, theoretically speaking. here, >> absolutely. As the father, there's. charges uh failure to act to prevent. child abuse. There there are certain.

charges, but there has to be sufficient. evidence that he failed to act. If he. had prior knowledge that not only was. she using drugs, but she also kept them. out and was prone to pass out after. taking drugs, then yes, he could be. responsible based on that admission. But. just having a spouse or having parent of. your child being on drugs or abusing. drugs, that in and of itself is not. sufficient to charge the other parent. with child neglect or child abuse. But. knowing that they had a habit of heaping. the drugs out, passing out, or placing.

the children in an unsafe environment, he can be charged as well. But there's. other factors to consider. Did they live. together? Uh did he know the. [clears throat] conditions of the home? Was he aware of her drug habits and and. keeping the drugs out? And also, is he. in the uh position to care for the. child? So there's a lot of factors that. the prosecution would have to consider. before making that determination whether. filing charges are appropriate for the. father. >> Yeah, I'm just was curious about that.

and I'm not saying that he's charged or. going to be charged. I want to be clear. about that. But going back to her uh. Munos Paulino, as we mentioned, charged. with seconddegree murder, aggravated. child abuse. I'm struggling to figure. out what the defense is going to be here. because we talk about this all the time. when you're dealing with such a young. victim, a vulnerable victim, and they're. in a certain state, you have to always. essentially blame the caregiver, right? If a child is sick or a child is. ingesting materials or a child has. bruises, it's not like an adult where.

there could be other rational. explanations for what happened. Does she. call a medical examiner to say this is. not what was in the body, that this was. not what caused complications? Does she. put the blame on somebody else and say, "I had no idea what was going on.". Again, I'm struggling here for what a. defense could be, or is it, hey, can we. negate this down that maybe it's not. seconddegree murder, but it's a lesser. charge? What could a defense be here? >> Well, in cases like this, especially. when the evidence is overwhelming,

usually I have a conversation with my. clients and I tell them there's really. two avenues we can take. We can go down. one road which is mitigation. Let's get. you evaluated. Let the prosecution see. that you had a history of drug use. You. never had treatment. There may be some. mental illnesses that uh need to be. addressed that you never had addressed. Let's get you evaluated. Let's get that. mitigation report. Incorporate the. evaluation from the doctor and let's see. if we can plea this out to a better. deal. or if the defendant is gungho and. does not want to take a deal, then you. try to present those mitigating factors.

during trial and hope for a lesser. included. In this case, you have the. secondderee murder, but you also have. the aggravated child abuse case. So, it. it always depends. But here's the. problem. In Florida, you cannot claim as. a defense for justification, voluntary. drug use, that you were not in the right. state of mind. Now, if someone, let's. say, spiked her drink or, you know, she. took the drugs unknowingly, that would. be a great defense that she was not in. the right state of mind, that was not.

her drugs. Someone else was over there. and and she had no idea. But we don't. have that in this case. That was her own. personal use. No one else was in the. home. So, she really doesn't have a. defense. So, just because you have the. right to counsel, you have the right to. go to trial, you do not have a right to. a not-uilty verdict. So, in this case, she really needs to analyze the. evidence. Yes, you're innocent until. proven guilty, but sometimes the facts. are against you and they're. overwhelming. So, I would suggest that. she mitigate this case because if she's. found guilty in Florida, get being.

convicted of a seconddegree murder, the. maximum punishment is life in prison. >> Talk about evidence. You talk about bad. evidence. There's something I haven't. even mentioned yet. something that. certainly does not help Munos's Paulino. and that is that she allegedly changed. her story several times when it came to. what happened to Sebastian. So according. to WPLG's review of the arrest report at. first she reportedly claimed that he.

fell asleep while she was holding him. and when she woke up he was. unresponsive. Now, deputies said that. she later claimed that actually he'd. fallen and hit his head. But she. allegedly told child welfare workers. that he drowned in the bathtub and told. the boy's father that he choked on. something. Now, Caseia, from a defense. perspective, could you say this is a. mother who's panicking? She didn't know. what she was saying. She's not. deliberately misleading anybody. Or if. this can be proven by prosecutors, it. looks like somebody trying to cover.

their tracks. It's what we call in the. law consciousness of guilt. How bad is. this? >> It's bad. And even if she testifies, she's going to be impeached. She gave. multiple inconsistent statements. And as. a mother, this is not someone panicking. because mothers are nurturers. Mothers. want to find out what happened to their. child, especially in a situation as. this. So, we're not going to tell. multiple stories. We're going to The. truth is always consistent. So, the. problem that she's going to have if she.

chooses to take this to trial is that. she lacks credibility. And usually when. there aren't any witnesses and the jury. does not believe you, it's typically a. guilty verdict because what else are. they supposed to believe if the mother. has given multiple inconsistent. statements? She's trying to separate. herself from the drugs that we know were. present in the baby's stomach. So, it's. unfortunate, but this is not a good case. to take the trial simply because we know. that she was solely responsible for the.

death of her son. And lying and given. multiple stories doesn't make her case. any better. >> By the way, the medical examiner's. office was apparently able to rule out. suffocation or airway obstruction during. the autopsy. This is according to WLG. How critical is that when we're talking. about this case? It's very critical because what you. don't want to leave as a prosecution is. room for reasonable doubt. The. prosecution's burden is to prove each. and every element of the crime beyond a.

reasonable doubt. And if there's some. doubt that wait a minute, maybe although. there's a lethal dose of meth and. cocaine, uh could it have been possible. that this baby had a pattern of putting. items in his mouth and he technically. didn't die first of this lethal dose? He. probably choked first and and wasn't. able to breathe. So, you're ruling out. all of these possibilities because when. once a jury goes back there and they. deliberate, you have different theor. theories based on the evidence. presented. So, you want to make sure as.

a prosecution that you do not have that. doubt in the jury because that one. person can leave behind jury. So, it's. very important that the prosecution. through their forensic experts rule out. there was possible suffocation or any. other close head trauma or drowning. >> Yeah. And that's maybe where you'd have. a defense medical examiner try to. dispute that. But anyway, put that to. the side. Something I want to play. So, Munos Pelino appeared for a bond hearing.

on Tuesday and a Spanish interpreter. helped make sure that she understood. what was going on in court and she. looked distraught when she seemingly. realized that she was going to be. spending another night in jail. Take a. look. >> No, no. Now, the judge scheduled Munos Pino for. a pre-trial detention hearing today when. a judge can decide whether she should be. released pending trial. By the time of.

this recording, we don't know what that. decision will be, but Caseia, would you. expect her to get pre-trial release? >> Absolutely not. In the state of Florida, I've tried many murder trials or second. degree, and typically you don't get a. bond. I don't know if this pre-trial. hearing is going to be an author hearing. which has two prongs. You have to. approve a proof evidence presumption. Great. The state and then even if proof. evidence and presumption is great that. this crime was committed and she's a. person that committed the crime, the. judge then has to determine whether or.

not there's reasonable conditions and. balance that with the safety of the. community. And there's various factors. that the judge has to consider. And in. this case, she was harmful not only to. baby Sebastian, nine months old, but. also to her other child. So, I do not. believe based on the evidence, based on. uh the facts and circumstances of this. case that she will uh be granted a bond. Typically, cases like this, murder. cases, it is a danger to the community. Often times, people think, "Oh, it's.

just drugs. It's not a gun. It's not a. violent crime." But look what happened. in this circumstance. This is why drugs. are dangerous and ultimately lethal in. innocent people. So, I don't believe the. judge will grant a bond in this case. >> Oh, and and one other thing I didn't. mention as well. Okay, this isn't Munos. Paulino's only legal problem right now. No, according to Miami date court. records, she was arrested in 2021 and. charged with possession of a controlled. substance as well as possession of drug. paraphernalia. The state ended up not. prosecuting her for the drugs. Instead,

she was adjudicated guilty in 2023 on. the misdemeanor paraphernalia charge. She was ordered to pay a little over. $300 in fines and court costs, but. according to the records, she didn't pay. and the case was sent to collections. It. also appears that she was arrested for. battery in 2023, but that case was. dropped. The question I have now is if. she has Caseia, these prior charges, these prior drug charges on her record. How badly does that hurt her case? Does. it come up at a trial? I guess it would. come up at a trial if she were to. testify, right? But talk to me how it.

might affect it. It certainly wouldn't come up during. trial because um some of the cases were. uh null pro or dismissed, but sometimes. the judge once the case is dismissed, it's not weighed heavily in the judge. determining whether or not the defendant. should get a bond. But there's other. definitely the judge looks at the. criminal history, safety to the. community, ties to the community, whether or not she will make herself. available to court because again the. purpose of pre-trial release is not.

simply as punishment because that would. be a violation against the eth. amendment. Cruel and unusual punishment. is to ensure the safety of the community. and make sure that you will be at your. next trial date. But based on the. circumstances of this case and even with. her taking that misdemeanor. adjudication, I don't believe that the. judge will release her. >> Now, the court docket shows that uh. Munos Pino has been assigned a public. defender who waved arraignment, entered. a written not guilty plea on her behalf. Just a tragic situation. Uh Caseia. Early, thank you so much for taking the.

time. Really appreciate it. >> Thanks for having me, Jesse. >> And that's all we have for you right now. here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank you so. much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple. Podcast, Spotify, wherever you should. get your podcasts. You can follow me on. X or Instagram. [music]. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next. time.