Mom Charged in 'Meth' Baby Case

(St. Louis County, Missouri) A 27-year-old woman, Mackenzie L. Gruenewald, has been charged with first-degree involuntary manslaughter for recklessly causing the stillborn death of her child by using methamphetamine during pregnancy.

The St. Louis County medical examiner's officer referred the Gruenewald case to county police late last year after autopsy results were completed.

Officials said involuntary manslaughter was the only charge available to prosecutors because the Missouri Court of Appeals Western District ruled in September that a woman could not be charged with child endangerment for using drugs before her baby was born.

In that case, a mother and her newborn son tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamine. State law allows prosecution of a third party who harms a pregnant woman, but bars prosecution of a woman for causing indirect harm to a fetus, the court ruled.

Officials can make a case, however, that Gruenewald "recklessly caused" her unborn child's death by taking methemphetamine, said Don Schneider, the spokesman for Prosecuting Attorney Robert P. McCulloch.

"We tried to be very cautious and circumspect about the case," Schneider said.

Gruenewald was booked into custody with bond set at $15,000.