http://www.thestate.com/local/story/777440.html. Here is the cut and paste
Foster mom-nurse charged in baby’s death
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Angela Deniece Dukes, 30, of St. Andrews Road, is charged with unlawful neglect of a child, SLED spokeswoman Jennifer Timmons said.
Dukes is accused in the death of Curtis Williams, of Cayce, whom she found unresponsive on an adult bed at her St. Andrews Road apartment, authorities said.
Richland County Coroner Gary Watts had said earlier that the boy was found face-down amid sheets and a fluffy comforter, and that there was a crib in the home where the child should have slept.
SLED said no other adults or children were home at the time.
Curtis was pronounced dead at Lexington Medical Center at 9:59 a.m. on Feb. 8 of asphyxiation, Watts said Wednesday.
The Department of Social Services took Curtis into custody Feb. 7 and placed him in the foster home after he tested positive for THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, Cayce police have said.
Preliminary autopsy reports found the anti-allergy medication Benadryl in his system.
The foster home was licensed, DSS spokeswoman Virginia Williamson said Wednesday. She said no other children have been placed in Dukes’ care since the boy’s death.
DSS has been working with SLED and continues an internal investigation into the incident, Williamson said.
DSS officials are examining everything about how the case was handled including the removal of the child, his placement, any licensing issues and the care of the child, Williamson said.
Dukes was working as a neo-natal intensive care nurse at Palmetto Health Richland at the time, SLED said.
She has been suspended, pending the outcome of the investigation, hospital spokeswoman Tammie Epps said Wednesday night. She had worked there less than three years, Epps said.
Curtis tested positive for THC at Lexington Medical Center after police found him and his mother about 4:23 p.m. on Feb. 7 in a Cayce motel room filled with marijuana smoke.
His mother, Katrina Jivers, 22, was charged with unlawful conduct toward a child, contributing to the delinquency of a child and possession of marijuana.
Jivers’ 2-year-old daughter later tested positive for cocaine and was placed in a different licensed foster home.
In that case, Jivers was charged with unlawful conduct toward a child and contributing to the delinquency of a child, involving her daughter.
Dukes is at Richland County jail and faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
Reach Higgins at (803) 771-8570.
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