Baby Dies Sleeping With Parents

A newborn baby has died of apparent suffocation at a Torrance, Calif., hospital after sleeping in bed with his parents.

Police said the death of Carlos Franco, who was only a few hours old, appeared to be accidental, but they were awaiting an autopsy report for confirmation, the Los Angeles Times reported Thursday.

The child had been sleeping in a bed at Torrance Memorial Medical Center with his parents, both juveniles who have not been named.

The father put the baby on a pillow on his chest, said Torrance Police Officer Dave Crespin. Mom woke up at 2:30 a.m. and found the baby in between both of them. The baby was not breathing.

The hospital released a statement saying it has a policy of warning parents against sharing a bed with an infant because of the risk to the baby of accidental death.

However, a hospital spokeswoman could not confirm if the parents of Carlos Franco had been warned because of confidentiality rules.