A pair of 7-month old twin sisters from New Jersey died on the same day and in separate cribs. Medical examiners said Jessenia and Juliana Rodriguez-Garnett did not die due to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or foul play. They said the twins succumb due to natural causes.
Mom Alexandria Garnett found her baby girls unresponsive in the morning of March 22. Garnett called 911 and reported her twins looked purple. She also felt they were no longer breathing, as per NJ True Jersey.
The dispatcher instructed the mom to do CPR while help was on the way. She said the babies remained unresponsive. The EMT team confirmed Garnett's worst fears when they arrived: her babies were gone.
The funeral director who received the girls' paperwork said the medical examiner ticked the box for "natural causes" and not SIDS or otherwise known as crib death. Crib death is a common assumption in unexplained situations among babies below one who die during sleep. The state of New Jersey recently launched a campaign to minimize SIDS by giving out free baby boxes, as per CBS New York.
Meanwhile, Jessenia and Juliana's bodies already went through an autopsy but officials at Camden County have yet to release the specific cause of death. Neighbors described Garnett as "a wonderful mom" who "loved kids," as per Philly. A friend of the family said the twin girls were born prematurely. One of them needed heart surgery.
"I knew it was going to be natural causes, because nobody would hurt the kids," neighbor Markia Conover said, as per Palm Beach Post. "They were well taken care of."
The Garnetts reside in Pines Apartments somewhere in Bilper Avenue. Aside from the twins, the mom has two other kids in the age of six and one. The children's grandmother also live with them.
