CROWN POINT | The mother of a 3-month-old baby boy has been charged with murder in connection with his death.
Kimberly Amber Kelley, 30, of Hobart, also was charged Saturday in Lake County Superior Court with neglect of a dependent and battery.
Kelley is being held without bond at the Lake County Jail, Hobart police Deputy Chief Jeffery White said.
Nathan Wisniewski, who was born July 28, was pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Mary Medical Center in Hobart. Funeral services were Monday at Burns Funeral Home in Hobart, a member of the Wisniewski family said.
The baby's death was ruled a homicide caused by intentional suffocation, Lake County Coroner David Pastrick said.
Thursday's death has led police to reopen an investigation into the death four years ago of an infant daughter of Kelley.
Pastrick said during Nathan's autopsy, authorities discovered an embroidered imprint from the shirt the baby was wearing had been impressed into his chest.
"These markings could only be explained by extensive pressure being applied to the infant's back while in a face down position," Pastrick said. "As the deceased was in a bassinet, this pressure had to be intentionally applied by another."
Hobart police were called to a house in the 300 block of West Eighth Street shortly after 5 a.m. Thursday on reports of an infant not breathing.
Kelley and her estranged boyfriend and father of the child, Keith Wisniewski, 27, of the 600 block of Water Street in Hobart, were questioned by Hobart police.
Police learned during questioning that Kelley also had lost an infant girl about four years ago, White said. Both deaths will be investigated, White said.
Wisniewski, a former Portage resident, told police that Kelley, apparently drunk and depressed, had called him at 4 a.m. Thursday telling him she'd lost another child four years earlier due to complications.
According to court records, Kelley then told Wisniewski he probably wouldn't understand what it was like to lose a child and asked him how he would feel if for some reason he lost Nathan that night.
Wisniewski and Kelley reportedly ended their relationship in early November, and Wisniewski received custody of Nathan. Kelley had picked up the child for a visit Wednesday morning, court records indicate.
She had cared for the child during the day, then reportedly put the baby in his bassinet about 7:30 p.m.
Court records indicate she started drinking with a boyfriend, Kent Kreisher, and a roommate, David Kish, until 8:30 p.m.
The two men told police they went to a Hobart bar, leaving Kelley behind. They returned about 11 p.m.
About 5 a.m. Thursday, Kelley awoke Kreisher and told him the baby had stopped breathing and that he should contact police.
Wisniewski told police that during his earlier telephone conversation with Kelley, she had agreed to bring the baby back to him.
When Kelley didn't show up, he kept trying to contact her. He finally reached Kreisher, who told him the baby wasn't breathing.
Wisniewski reportedly ran from his house to the 300 block of West Eighth Street and was there when police arrived, court documents say.
Authorities said they intend to look into the death of Kelley's first child, a premature baby girl identified as Alexis, which she had with another father.
That baby, which had been on life support, had been transferred to Riley Children's Hospital in Indianapolis, court document say.
Kelley's mother, Portage resident Catherine Johnson, told police her daughter decided to take that baby off life support because she faced 18 surgeries and likely would not survive.
