Mom Allegedly Kills 17-Month-Old Son, Texts Video of Child's Lifeless Body to Father: Cops A Pennsylvania mom was arrested Tuesday for allegedly smothering her son to death and attempting to kill her daughter as well — all while texting their father to say she was doing it, police said. Police announced Wednesday that 21-year-old Christian Clark was charged with homicide and attempted murder in the aftermath of the tragedy. Read: Mom Who Smothered Baby While in Drug-Induced Sleep Pleads Guilty: 'I Carry the Ultimate Punishment' Police said that Clark and the children’s fatherm Andre Price Jr., were having an argument about his alleged infidelity when she started texting things like, "Ya kids ain’t safe here I don’t want them here... So you better pray for your kids” and, “I’m killing them,” with a laughing emoji. Police said she then sent a video of the child’s lifeless body, letting the dad know that she had killed the 17-month-old. Police said the parents were exchanging texts before, after, and during the act.
Superintendent of the Allegheny County Police Department, Coleman McDonough, said Clark confessed to killing the baby during an interview with police. “She admitted to smothering her son in an air mattress,” McDonough said. “At one point she lifted the child’s lifeless body [on video]... and texted that video to the child’s father. Police said additional texts also revealed that she unsuccessfully attempted to smother her 2-year-old daughter. “It’s quite an exchange,” McDonough said of the text messages. "Obviously she was angry and he was denying her allegations. It just goes to show how have texts have become such a part of our lives that people don’t even realize the nature of what they are communicating." Read: Father Allegedly Stabs 2-Year-Old Daughter to Death, Stabs Himself, Sets Fire to Their Apartment Clark called McKeesport police after the incident and told them she found what she called the boy unresponsive, police said. Both children were taken to the hospital where the 17-month-old was pronounced dead.
The 2-year-old is expected to be okay. Clark is currently being held without bond until a preliminary hearing. Watch: Mom of Missing Kayla Berg on Hoax Kidnapping Video: 'It Completely Sickens Me'MCKEESPORT, Pa. — A woman is facing homicide charges after a 17-month-old boy was found unresponsive in a Pennsylvania home on Tuesday. Police were called to an apartment in the Hi View Gardens housing complex, in McKeesport, for a call about an unresponsive child.Police said they found the 17-month-old boy unresponsive, and paramedics transported him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.The investigation determined that the boy’s mother was responsible for his death, according to police.Christian Clark, 21, of McKeesport, was arrested.She told police the child was a healthy boy with no known medical conditions, and that she had found her son unresponsive on an air mattress before calling 911.Clark said the father of the child, Andre Price Jr., had been in the apartment that afternoon to travel.
Clark said she had been arguing with Price before he left.According to the criminal complaint, Clark exchanged text messages with Price after he left the apartment, allegedly saying things like, "Ya kids ain’t safe here I don’t want them here," "So you better pray for your kids" and "I’m killing them," with a laughing emoji at the end of the message.Clark allegedly also sent photos of two young children with their faces down in a pillow or blanket.She is lodged in the Allegheny County Jail on charges of criminal homicide and attempted homicide.No, you're not dreaming: Air mattress technology and design has advanced to the point where many temporary air beds are now as comfortable as beds costing hundreds or thousands of dollars more. This makes a blow-up mattress a great choice to keep around for overnight guests, family members who may visit regularly but don't need an everyday bed (like grandkids), or as a temporary solution for someone who has moved and has to wait for their regular bed to arrive.
The right air mattress or sleeping pad can also make camping trips a lot more comfortable, providing a layer of cushioning between your sleeping bag and the ground. Some outdoor air mattresses are, in effect, outdoor beds, bringing all the comforts of the double bed in your home to the great outdoors. Sleeping pads are lighter and thinner than regular air mattresses, making them suitable for folding and carrying in a pack. However, while sleeping pads are thin and lightweight, these self-inflating wonders still pack a lot of comfort in a small package. Queen- and twin-sized air mattresses are by far the most common, but some manufacturers make air beds in full or king size as well. It's important to check the actual dimensions on the blow-up mattress you're considering, however; some air mattresses are sized a bit smaller than the true mattress size. Air mattresses also vary in thickness, but in general they can be either single-height or double-height. A single-height air mattress sits anywhere from 7 to 13 inches off the floor, which can make it difficult for some to get in and out of, especially those who may have physical challenges.
A raised, or double-height mattress, by contrast, inflates to between 18 and 22 inches high, bringing it much closer to normal bed height. One caveat: that extra thickness might require you to buy deep-pocketed fitted sheet sets, which are less common and more expensive than standard sheets. Head on over to our separate report on bed sheets for our top recommendations. Some air mattresses are very basic, just blow up rectangles, but other air mattresses have extra features, such as raised bumpers or built-in pillows. Many people like those features because they help keep your bedding -- and your body -- from falling off the air bed if it's not up against a wall. Parents of small children are particularly complimentary of air beds with bumpers as they feel that those bumpers give their child a feeling of security. All blow-up mattresses, regardless of what they are used for, have one thing in common: they‘re inflated with a pump -- although some sleep pads are then topped off by blowing into a valve.
The pump that blows up the mattress may be built-in or a separate unit, and it may run on standard household current, battery power or muscle power (like a bicycle pump). Some mattresses do not actually come with a pump, which can be both a plus and a minus: you have to purchase the pump separately, but you can choose the type that's most convenient for you, and if it breaks you don't have to replace the whole mattress. Air mattresses should not be confused with permanent-use air beds such as the Sleep Number bed, which uses air-filled pockets in place of springs. Inflatable air mattresses like those covered in this report can be quite inexpensive and are intended for occasional or short-term use only. While some owners do report using an inflatable air mattress as their regular bed, manufacturers do not recommend using air beds for long-term or permanent use. Most of the poor reviews we saw related to our top-rated air mattresses were from people who groused that the mattress started to lose air after months of daily use -- something that's to be expected from using what is, essentially, a reinforced, rectangular balloon.
Also, since you are sleeping on air, blow-up mattresses, even those with pillow or flocked tops, tend to have poor insulation. Because of that, we recommend putting a blanket under your air bed and topping it off with a good, thick mattress pad before adding the rest of your bedding. Permanent air mattresses, on the other hand, are meant for everyday use and get excellent ratings for longevity and comfort, but they can also cost $1,000 or more -- at least as much as a traditional innerspring mattress. For more information about permanent air mattresses, see our separate report on mattresses. of the top six air mattresses based upon a large survey of owner satisfaction. , , a major retailer of camping and outdoor equipment. We looked at what users had to say about how comfortable each mattress is to sleep on, as well as how easy it is to set up and to break down for storage. We also paid a lot of attention to durability: how well the mattress holds air during the night and how likely it is to develop problems, such as a leak or a pump failure.