Chelsea Cooley: preliminary hearing concludes in case of mother accused of suffocating 3-year-old with wet wipes

A judge has determined there is sufficient evidence to send to trial the case of a woman charged with the choking murder of her boyfriend’s 3-year-old son, reports the Altoona Mirror.

Charges have been bound over for the next court date for 31-year-old Chelsea Renae Cooley, who faces one felony count each of endangering the welfare of children, of aggravated assault with extreme indifference, of aggravated assault-victim less than 6 and defendant 18 or older and of strangulation, and one misdemeanor count each of recklessly endangering another person and simple assault, says the Mirror.

UPMC Bedford emergency physician Dr. Ryan Wetzel testified during the preliminary trial on Wednesday, describing the night on May 28, when a child was brought in at around 9 p.m., the Mirror says. Along with four other medical professionals, he began resuscitation efforts on the child with ongoing CPR, putting in IV, using epinephrine to restart the heart, and trying to open the airway, the Mirror explains.

While intubating the child, Wetzel said he found “four or five” wet wipes “packed very tightly” down the child’s throat, adding that they were so shoved in he had to “physically pull them apart,” the Mirror says.

Wetzel explained that despite having the child’s airway open within five minutes and bringing back a pulse within three to four minutes, the child…