- Investigators allege the parents were using drugs the night Zemina Smith wandered out of their apartment and into the cold. Parents also charged with endangering their other children in the apartment.
- Erie police have charged 2-year-old Zemina Smith's parents with involuntary manslaughter and other counts related to her death
- The charges were filed against the parents, Marrion D. Smith, 28, and Shynia S. Holt, 27
- Some of the charges relate to mother's admission that she and the father had been smoking methamphetamine when Zemina got outside
Three and a half months after 2-year-oldZemina Smith froze to death outside her apartment on East 17th Street, Erie police have charged her parents with involuntary manslaughter and other counts related to her death and to what investigators said was the lack of proper care of her two siblings.
Some of the charges relate to the mother's admission that she and the father had been smoking methamphetamine when Zemina got outside, according to charging documents.
The charges were filed Tuesday night against the parents, Marrion D. Smith, 28, and Shynia S. Holt, 27, according to court records. Each is facing second-degree felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children, as well as misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment and possession of drug paraphernalia.
The involuntary manslaughter charge alleges that Smith and Holt "acted in a reckless or grossly negligent manner," according to the charging documents.
Erie police arrested Holt into custody on Tuesday night, according to city police arrest records. Erie 1st District Judge Sue Mack arraigned Holt shortly before 10 a.m. Wednesday and released her on $25,000 unsecured bond, according to court records.
Smith was arraigned Wednesday night. Mack set his bond at 10% of $7,500, according to court records.
Erie County District Attorney Elizabeth Hirz declined to comment on the case Wednesday morning.
Toddler was wearing only shorts and T-shirt when found
Erie police accuse Holt and Smith of failing to watch over Zemina when police said the toddler wandered out of the family's apartment in an Erie Housing Authority complex in the 200 block of East 17th Street sometime during the evening of Feb. 28. Zemina was reported missing to Erie police at about 6:50 a.m. on Feb. 29, and she was found unresponsive later that morning in a parking lot near a playground in the 300 block of East 16th Street, according to investigators.
Zemina was wearing a white T-shirt and pink shorts, and a pair of white boots was found nearby, according to information in the criminal complaints filed against Holt and Smith.
The Erie County Coroner's Office ruled the cause of Zemina's death as hypothermia.
Police say parents were smoking drugs when daughter left apartment
Police also allege that Zemina's parents were smoking drugs when Zemina left the apartment unnoticed and wandered into the sub-freezing cold.
Holt and Smith told police they were home with Zemina and their two other children, ages 3 and 2, including Zemina's twin, on the evening of Feb. 28. Holt told investigators that, at some point during the evening, she exited her apartment and was sitting in a parked vehicle with her sister. Police believe Holt exited the apartment at 10:39 p.m., based on text messages, detectives wrote in the affidavit of probable cause filed with the complaints.
Holt told police Smith exited the apartment at one point and spoke with her while she was seated in the parked vehicle. She said she believed the door to the apartment was cracked, and believed Zemina might have exited at that time, according to information in the affidavits.
A guest who was also at the apartment on the evening of Feb. 28 left at about 11:42 p.m., and Holt and Smith told police they stayed within the apartment and did not notice one of their children missing, according to police.
Video shows child's movements
Detectives obtained video from the area of the apartment that they said showed a child, believed to be Zemina, moving east from the back door area of the family's apartment at 11:18 p.m. on Feb. 28, as the temperature dipped to 25 degrees and the wind chill dropped to 8 or 9 degrees.
Other video tracked her movements as she was seen wandering around a nearby apartment complex, leaving her residence at 11:14 p.m. She is then seen on video laying down at 12:15 a.m. on Feb. 29 at the same location where she was found deceased at 7:44 a.m., investigators wrote in the affidavits.
The video police obtained did not show any adult, including Holt or Smith, outside searching for Zemina after the time Zemina was determined to have left the home, according to detectives.
Smith told police he and Holt realized Zemina was missing between 4:30 and 5 a.m. on Feb. 29. Smith and Holt then called friends and acquaintances and searched the home for Zemina, then called 911 at 6:51 a.m. and a more comprehensive search by law enforcement ensued, detectives wrote in the affidavit.
Couple admits to drug use
Investigators wrote that, during the course of interviews with Holt, she stated she and Smith had been "smoking meth" on the evening of Feb. 28 and into Feb. 29 while watching over the three children. Smith admitted to smoking marijuana at the time when he was interviewed by police, according to information in the affidavit.
As part of their investigation into Zemina's death, detectives wrote that they obtained a search warrant for Erie County Office of Children and Youth case files concerning Holt, Smith and their children. Included in the requested case material was a report from a toxicology lab which indicated Smith had tested positive for amphetamine, methamphetamine and THC, and Holt had tested positive for amphetamine, methamphetamine and THC, according to information in the affidavit.
Investigators received a report from Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC indicating that comprehensive drug screens for the couple's other children were positive for methamphetamine and nicotine, detectives wrote in the affidavit.
Police were given consent to search the apartment and said they found a water bong with residue, a glass pipe with burnt ends, a plate with three "blunts," and five empty packages for THC in the second-floor master bedroom, according to the affidavit.
Other children removed from home
Zemina's death led an Erie County judge to remove her two siblings from the custody of their parents and put the two on a swift course for adoption.
Judge John J. Trucilla took the actions after finding that the mother and father engaged in "aggravated physical neglect" and abuse due to their failure to properly supervise their 2-year-old daughter, Zemina Smith, according to information disclosed at a juvenile dependency hearing on April 24.
His ruling came after the Erie County Office of Children and Youth got involved in the case following Zemina's death. OCY had not been involved with the family before then, according to information disclosed at the dependency hearing.
A "shelter care hearing" for the two siblings was held shortly after Zemina's death, indicating that the children had been removed from the home on an emergency basis at the request of OCY.
At the request of OCY, Trucilla held what is known as an adjudication hearing for the two children on March 14. He adjudicated the children as dependent and set the goal as adoption rather than reunification with the parents. The children were placed in kinship care in the meantime.
Trucilla held the hearing on April 24 to ensure the adoption process remained on course.
Contact Tim Hahn atthahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on X@ETNhahn.
Contact Ed Palattella atepalattella@timesnews.com or 814-870-1813. Follow him on X@ETNpalattella.
