Parents arrested for manslaughter

Parents of a 4-month-old girl have been arrested for manslaughter after the infant was found unresponsive and could not be revived at the couple’s home in Shelton on March 6.

Stevie Kadoun, 30, the child’s mother, was arrested at the scene. The father, Damion Giacchino, 31, fled, according to police, and was apprehended March 14.

According to the probable cause document, Kadoun called 911 to report her child wasn’t breathing and her husband was attempting CPR.

“I recalled going to this address several times in the past. I knew the property to be littered with trash, derelict vehicles, wanted subjects, and controlled substances, making it a dangerous place for any child to live. Leading me to believe there was a possibly a criminal element to this case. Further, I knew the property not to be attached to any type of grid power system, or have running water or working sewage,” Mason County Deputy R. Carney wrote in the document.

Carney said he went to check on the infant in the ambulance and took turns with medics performing CPR but the infant was deceased.

Giacchino left before police arrived, Detective A. Mercado wrote in a supplemental probable cause document.

Kadoun said she had prepared a bottle with formula for the baby and “fell asleep, woke up a couple of hours later, and discovered the baby was now missing or at least it was not on her chest as she remembers that was the last place the baby was when she fed it. Stevie said she was frantically looking for the baby and also woke Damion up to help her, when she discovered the baby was between her and the couch. Stevie said she immediately reached for the baby and discovered the baby was no longer breathing and Damion began to give the baby CPR,” Mercado wrote.

Another deputy at the scene said he observed drug-related items near the couch where the baby was last seen alive and officers obtained a search warrant for the home.

“In the kitchen area I noticed there was a table with several glass smoking devices. I recognized the paraphernalia as the type that is commonly used to smoke methamphetamine. I also discovered a small plastic container with a blue screw on cap. Inside that container was a crystalline substance that based on my training and experience I recognized to be methamphetamine,” Mercado wrote.

When Mercado asked Kadoun about the drug items, she told him she “had a problem,” and said the last time she used drugs was the previous day, according to the document.

The couple have an 18-month-old who was also at the home and taken into protective custody by Child Protective Services, according to police.

Mercado wrote he spoke with the CPS social worker who came to the scene.

She “informed me she was familiar with the family because they had previously been involved with them due to the baby [redacted] being born prematurely and also testing positive for narcotics when born,” the document states.

Mason County Coroner Jamie Taylor gave Kadoun a doll, asking her to demonstrate “where everyone was sleeping on the couch,” as part of the death investigation.

Mercado wrote that the home did not have electricity and obtained power by solar panels on the roof maintained by car batteries. He also saw rat traps and rat droppings, moldy baby clothes and a hose and RV water filter in the bathroom the couple were using to filter water from a nearby creek, he wrote.

Kadoun was charged with first-degree manslaughter and posted $5,000 bail. Her initial arraignment was Monday in Mason County Superior Court.

Giacchino has been charged with first-degree manslaughter and is being held on $50,000 bail. His initial arraignment was also in Mason County Superior Court on Monday.