The death of baby girl Summer Chambers in Johnston, Pennsylvania last December garnered international media attention due to the devastating circumstances surrounding the case. The five-month-old's body was discovered in a bassinet her home last December 22. Also in the house were the bodies of her parents, 27-year-old Jason Chambers and his 19-year-old girlfriend Chelsea Cardaro.
Investigators quickly pieced together that Chambers and Cardaro died of overdoses of the opioid fentanyl sometime around December 15—both had several times a fatal dose of the drug in their system. They apparently died within minutes. Summer held on for four or five days, but died of dehydration and starvation.
Just before her overdose, Cardaro made a touching Facebook post—still visible here—that had a picture of her with Chambers. It was captioned, "The one and only love of my life."
Early Wednesday morning, it was reported that Summer's death has been ruled a homicide, while her parents' deaths were ruled accidental. The parents, of course, can't be charged. However, there is still a chance that whoever sold Chambers and Cardaro the fentanyl will be.
"When I make a ruling, my job is to determine the cause of death," said Cambria County Coroner Jeffrey Lees . "Just because—at this point in time—there’s nobody to charge, the charge is still homicide."
Johnstown Police Department acting Chief Jeff Janciga hopes that his community can learn something from the awful situation.
"I’m hopeful for the future, hopeful that this child didn’t die in vain, hopeful that we can learn something from this as a community, hopeful that opiate-dependent persons can realize before it is too late that they need help, if, for nothing else, for the sake of their children’s well being," he said.
