Monell-Merritt Fatality Summary

Child’s Name: Joy Monell-Merritt County: Escambia

Date of Birth: 3/25/2017 Date of Death: 4/10/2019

Report Number: 2019-116764

Family Composition Chart

Name Age at Time of the Incident Relationship with Deceased Child

Joy Monell-Merritt 2 years old Deceased child Jessica Monell 36 years old Mother

Circumstances Surrounding Death

The mother admitted that she started smoking methamphetamines around 10:00pm on 4/9/19. She went to the maternal grandmother’s home around 12:30 AM on 04/10/20, picked the child up and returned home. At approximately 6:25 AM the mother and child went back to the maternal grandmother 's home to switch vehicles, then returned to their own home approximately three minutes later. The child had fallen asleep in the vehicle so the mother left her in the car while she (mother) went into the house to make the child’s bed. The mother stated for some reason she laid down and fell asleep. She woke over eight hours later and went to look for her daughter. When the mother was unable to locate her, she remembered that she never returned to the van to bring her inside. The mother ran outside to the van and found the child unresponsive in her car seat. The van was locked; in a panic, the mother ran back inside the house and found a hammer to bust the van’s window. According to the grandmother, the mother called her at 3:38 PM and told her what happened. The grandmother told the mother to contact 911 immediately. The mother then called 911. Law enforcement and EMS responded and the child was declared deceased at the residence.

During a walk-through of the home three bags of crystal meth, two bags of marijuana (less than 20gm), a Xanax pill, and syringes were found. The mother stated she normally woke at 3pm and smoked a ½ gram of meth, then between 9pm and 10pm she would smoke another ½ gram. She normally used twice a day but some days she used three times.

The Law Enforcement investigation resulted in the mother’s arrest for charges of Aggravated Manslaughter, Child Neglect, and Possession of Controlled Substances.

MONELL-MERRITT, Joy

Medical Examiner autopsy findings: Cause of Death: Hyperthermia; Manner of Death: Accident.

The department closed the investigation with verified findings of the death, inadequate supervision and substance misuse-illicit drugs maltreatments.

Other Children in the Family

There are no surviving children in the home.

Summary of Prior Agency Involvement with Family

The Northwest Region completed a Quality Assurance Review of the family’s prior involvement with the department. The report is available on the department’s website.

______1/24/2020 Rebecca Siebert Date Child Fatality Prevention Specialist

______1/27/2020 Kelly Faircloth Date Quality Improvement Manager

2