NAMPA, Idaho — Two parents appeared in Canyon County court on Tuesday after a 12-day-old baby boy was found dead in Nampa earlier this month.
According to Nampa Police, officers responded to a 9-1-1 call on Dec. 16 reporting an infant had died near Lone Star Road and South Canyon Street. First responders arrived and found the infant deceased.
The child’s father, Brian Lemke, was on scene and told police that the child’s mother, Allysen Armenta, was not there. Police say they later found Armenta hiding inside a camp trailer in the backyard, where she was arrested without incident.
WATCH: The troubling details revealed in court about this case.
Both parents are charged with failure to notify or delay notification of death, injury to a child, destruction or concealment of evidence, and resisting or obstructing officers. Bond has been set at $500,000 each.
Investigators believe the infant died at another location and was later moved to the home, however the official cause of death remains pending.
During Armenta’s arraignment on Tuesday, prosecutors said they believe the death may be related to co-sleeping, based on statements she allegedly made to police. Prior to her arrest, prosecutors say both Armenta and Lemke tried to avoid Child Protective Services while the agency was trying to locate the infant.
In Lemke’s court appearance, photos of the couple's living conditions were shown, revealing a lack of safe sleeping spaces for an infant.
"The photographs that accompanied the probable cause affidavit clearly showed very unhealthy, filthy living conditions for a child, that appear to have no safe place for a child to sleep," a Canyon County prosecutor was heard saying during court proceedings. "We saw, you know, feces, trash, food," she continued.
A former foster parent who has since adopted some of the couple’s other children told Idaho News 6 that they urged Idaho Health and Welfare and Nampa police to conduct a welfare check weeks before the arrests.
Court records show the couple was also previously jailed in 2019 after officers found three toddlers living in dangerous and dirty conditions in a South Boise home. Both pleaded guilty to three counts of injury to a child and spent one day in jail each before being released on supervised probation.
When describing the photos, the prosecutor called a child's death "predictable," saying, "So, the death of the child is predictable, particularly when you add the fact that the defendant was well aware of the dangers that having an unhealthy home condition can lead to, considering she's had prior children removed from similar circumstances."
READ MORE | Boise couple arrested after toddlers found in filthy house
Preliminary hearings are scheduled for Jan. 7 for Armenta and Jan. 13 for Lemke.
The investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with additional information is asked to contact Detective Mason Foster at 208-565-5174.
For Canyon County happenings, news, and more— join our Facebook Group: 2C Neighborhood News - Nampa, Caldwell, Middleton
