Medical examiner: Shaken baby syndrome victim’s death ruled homicide
Officials are investigating the death of a victim of shaken baby syndrome from Allegheny Township who died last year.
According to our partners at TribLIVE.com, 28-year-old Samantha Delariva died Oct. 30, 2021 at UPMC Presbyterian from head injuries suffered as an infant.
The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office reported on Wednesday that the cause of her death was abusive head trauma. Her death was labeled a homicide.
The Trib also said that the Westmoreland County District Attorney’s Office and Allegheny Township police are investigating. No one has been charged in her death.
Authorities said the head trauma occurred when Delariva was just four months old.
Her parents faced criminal charges after she was found not breathing while sleeping in her crib on Aug. 7, 1993, in the family’s home.
She was taken to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh and was diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome.
Newspaper accounts at the time said doctors discovered bleeding in the skull behind her eyes.
The swelling in Delariva’s brain led to a condition similar to cerebral palsy, and doctors said it would affect her for the rest of her life.
In 1993, 19-year-old Leah Ann Delariva and 21-year-old Charles W. Delariva were charged with child endangerment and aggravated assault.
The couple told police their daughter was fine when she went to sleep the night before the incident. After learning of her diagnosis, they said the injury occurred when Charles Delariva rolled onto the infant while sleeping, the Trib said.
During a 1994 trial in Westmoreland County, Leah Ann Delariva confessed to shaking her baby daughter because she wouldn’t stop crying.
Leah Ann Delariva was sentenced to three to six years in jail. After her confession, prosecutors moved for a mistrial against Charles Delariva and cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Samantha Delariva was raised by her maternal grandparents before she died in 2021.
The Trib’s attempts to reach Leah Ann Delariva were unsuccessful. Other family members had no immediate contact.
In her obituary, Samantha Delariva was said to have enjoyed watching TV, especially the Pittsburgh Steelers, and spending time with her nephew.
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