Court documents obtained by Global News show that despite claims she had been sober for months, Edmonton police found drugs and drug paraphernalia in Michelle Rice’s home.
The information is contained in documents filed by police when seeking to obtain a search warrant for Rice’s home. None of the claims has been proven in court.
On March 29, 11-day-old Eliana Rice was found dead in her south Edmonton home. An autopsy found the infant died of a methamphetamine overdose. At the time, police said the child had too much meth in her system to have come from breastfeeding; it had to have been ingested either orally or anally.
On May 11, Eliana’s mother, Michelle Rice was charged with second-degree murder in connection with the infant’s death.
READ MORE: Edmonton mother charged with murder after 11-day-old daughter dies of lethal dose of meth
New court documents contain information on what Rice told police regarding the night her daughter died.
Police wrote Rice found Eliana unconscious and not breathing. She called 911 and Eliana was taken to the Stollery Children’s Hospital where she was pronounced dead.
Rice remained at her home and spoke with police officers. Court documents indicate that her “daughter had been sleeping in a bassinet near Michelle’s bed, but woke up crying during the night. Michelle then breastfed Eliana and put her to bed beside her in her bed (Michelle’s bed).”
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Documents also say Rice told police she fell asleep while breastfeeding.
Initially, doctors believed the infant suffocated on her mother’s breast and the case was not considered suspicious. However, toxicology tests done on Eliana found methamphetamine concentrations of 0.23 mg/L of blood. The medical examiner’s office told police those levels are high enough that the drug “could not have been passed on to Eliana via breastfeeding… A level that high suggests ingestion via Eliana’s mouth or her anus.”
Police also claimed that Rice, in subsequent interviews, told officers Eliana had never been alone with anyone other than her.
She said she has been sober for the last nine to 10 months from everything other than a small amount of alcohol and the last time she consumed meth was when she was pregnant with Eliana, about nine or 10 months ago.
Rice acknowledged to officers she had a vaporizer pipe and it was possible she still had baggies with meth residue inside them.
Police were granted the search warrant. They searched Rice’s home on April 7 and other documents indicate they seized multiple pipes, a small drug bag and drugs.
Rice remains in custody and faces second-degree murder charges.
Her next court appearance is on June 16.
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