Springfield woman has been charged after her baby was found dead at home

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – A Springfield woman has been charged in the death of her child after the baby was found unresponsive in her home.

Danielle Nikkita Creech, 30, has been charged with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child and is currently being held in the Greene County Jail on $50,000 bail.

According to a statement from the Springfield Police Department (SPD), officers responded to a residence on April 18 for a report of a dead infant. When police arrived, they found the child dead.

Two witnesses told SPD that Creech was known to smoke methamphetamine and had recently begun using the drug intravenously.

In an interview with police, Creech admitted she used the drug daily from April 14 to 17 and stopped because she was tired. She told officers she had enough experience with meth to know she would have a “crash” after using it for four days.

On the night of April 17, Creech said that around 11:00 p.m. she was sitting on the side of her bed bottle-feeding the child, as they had been when feeding the baby.

Creech told investigators she looked around for the child and discovered him lying on his back, under where Creech’s back had been.

Online court documents show preliminary autopsy results were consistent with Creech’s statements. Documents also show that a witness told SPD that Creech continued to use drugs after the child’s death and that she planned to flee the area if charges were filed.