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PROVO — A man and woman were arrested Tuesday for investigation of felony child endangerment in connection with the heroin overdose death of their 1-year-old daughter in December, police said.
Casey Joseph Cormani, 31, of Cedar Hills, and Cassandra Leydsman, 32, of Lehi, were booked into the Utah County Jail following an investigation that commenced soon after their baby daughter, Penny Mae Cormani, died Dec. 2.
"Since that time, detectives have conducted interviews of witnesses, interrogations of suspects, and gathered physical evidence and toxicology reports sufficient to establish probable cause that the parents were responsible for the death of the child," the Provo Police Department said in a statement Tuesday posted to Facebook.
No formal charges had been filed Tuesday against Cormani or Leydsman.
An autopsy performed on Penny indicated she had a "lethal amount" of heroin in her body, as well as some codeine in her system, according to search warrant affidavits unsealed in 4th District Court in January.
Provo police officer Misha King, a department spokeswoman, said Tuesday that details about how the girl ingested the substances would come out during Cormani's and Leydsman's legal proceedings. The amount of heroin in Penny's system would have killed an adult, King said.
Police have reported in court documents they found "numerous" drug paraphernalia items Dec. 2 in the Provo home at 509 W. 1800 North, where the toddler was found unresponsive. Investigators also reported finding drug paraphernalia at the home on the floor, on a coffee table and in a bathroom trash can.
"All of the identified paraphernalia was seen in plain sight," court documents state.
Cormani and Leydsman were allowed by the homeowners there to stay at the house beginning Dec. 1, according to investigators. Court records show Cormani, Leydsman and the homeowners all have drug-related criminal histories. Cormani and Leydsman allegedly told police that the paraphernalia in the home belonged to the homeowners and said they weren't culpable of drug abuse.
Warrants were served on both couples, leading to hair and blood samples being drawn.
Related
Police investigating heroin death of 1-year-old girl in Provo
Police are investigating the death of a 1-year-old girl who apparently died from a heroin overdose in a Provo home that contained "numerous items of drug paraphernalia."King said Tuesday no additional arrests related to the girl's death are expected.
Leydsman told investigators she found Penny unresponsive after putting her down for a nap and then performed CPR and called 911, police reported in January. Paramedics took the young girl to Utah Valley Hospital, where she died.
On Dec. 4, just two days after his daughter died, Lehi police responded to another drug overdose where Cormani "was present," court documents say. Cormani was found with items of drug paraphernalia on his person in that incident. On March 30, he pleaded guilty to class A misdemeanor drug possession and class B misdemeanor drug paraphernalia possession in connection with the case.
In all, Cormani’s criminal history includes four convictions each for felony drug possession and misdemeanor drug possession.
He has also been convicted five times in Utah of drug paraphernalia possession; six combined times for theft, retail theft or theft by receiving stolen property; and once each for joyriding, interfering with an arresting officer and DUI.
Leydsman, who also goes by Cassandra Richards, pleaded guilty on March 11 to a class B misdemeanor drug paraphernalia charge stemming from a Dec. 5 incident. She also pleaded guilty on April 12 to felony theft and forgery and misdemeanor attempted forgery for incidents that occurred between Dec. 25, 2015, and Jan. 4 of this year, according to court records.
Leydsman’s full criminal history in Utah also includes six felony convictions since 2008 for falsely obtaining a drug prescription, three guilty pleas to misdemeanor use or possession of drug paraphernalia, and other guilty pleas to DUI, retail theft and intoxication, among other crimes..
