Deceased
Cheyse Williams-Empson
Demographics
3y, male
Coroner
Chief Coroner Walker
Date of death
2017-06-25
Finding date
2019-07-31
Cause of death
unascertained
AI-generated summary
A 3-month-old boy died with an unascertained cause after being found unresponsive in his bassinet with a blanket covering his mouth and face. His mother had ongoing heroin use throughout pregnancy and postnatally, concealed from support services through missed urinalysis appointments and provision of false samples. While the child showed normal development and medical care was appropriate, the mother's continued heroin use—unknown to treating clinicians—represented a risk factor. The pathologist could not determine a medical cause of death; SIDS could not be confirmed due to evidence of drug exposure and a deceased half-sibling. Post-mortem toxicology showed heroin and methadone exposure, but no evidence of acute toxicity or direct causation of death. Key clinical lesson: robust, timely communication of urinalysis results and more comprehensive review of known risk factors by multidisciplinary teams may have detected ongoing substance use earlier.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes. Report an inaccuracy.
Specialties
Error types
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
9y · Male·Traumatic head injury with diffuse cerebral swelling and subdural haemorrhage ca…
Bradyn Dillon, aged 9, was brutally beaten to death by his father Graham Dillon in February 2016. The inquest examined how multiple agencies—police, child protection, education, and health services—failed to protect him …
34y · Female·morphine toxicity (morphine probably ingested as heroin), accidental death
A 34-year-old woman subject to a Psychiatric Treatment Order died from morphine toxicity (accidental heroin overdose). While no deficiency in clinical care was identified, the coroner highlighted a critical gap in inform…
53y · Female·Combined effects of alcohol, amitriptyline, and methadone
Joanne Lovelock, a 53-year-old woman with chronic pain, died from combined effects of alcohol, amitriptyline, and methadone on Christmas Day 2015. She had developed opioid dependence while receiving legitimate pain manag…
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. Some material may have been redacted or restricted by court order or privacy requirements. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction — report an inaccuracy here.