Toddler Dies After Parents Tie Mattress Down

A Pennsylvania couple has been charged after being accused of tying and weighting down a mattress on top of their toddler son’s crib so that he couldn’t climb out which led to his suffocation death.

Justin Dwyer, 29, and Courtney Stash, 28, were reportedly charged on Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter and other crimes in the April death of their 2-year-old son.

Detectives in Lebanon County say that the Myerstown couple told them they weighted down the mattress with bagged rock salt and tied it down with bungee cords.

Police say the boy still tried to climb out and got his head above the crib’s rail, but he became trapped and suffocated by the weight of the mattress and rock salt.

Online court records don’t list any attorneys for the couple