SHAWANO, WI (WTAQ) – A Shawano mother charged in connection to her infant son’s death will return to court for a competency evaluation.
22-year-old Catherine Barker was in court on Tuesday after being charged with neglect of a child, not reporting the death and attempting to move, hide, or bury the body.
Her bond is currently set at $100,000 cash and she will return to court for her evaluation on November 12.
Barker noticed her two-month-old son wasn’t breathing on September 28 and performed CPR, according to the criminal complaint.
After the child wasn’t revived, she failed to contact the police or call 911, according to prosecutors.
The criminal complaint states that a search of her phone revealed that she then messaged a friend that her son had died and that she planned on burying him at St. John’s Cemetary on the Menominee Indian Reservation, then moving to the Oshkosh or Brandon area.
The friend then contacted the police and authorities discovered the deceased infant in her home.
Barker has told investigators that she believes the child suffocated himself with a blanket, while the cause of death and an autopsy are still pending.
