MOTHER DISPUTES AUTOPSY, SAYS CRACK COCAINE 'NOT WHY MY BABY DIED'

The mother of a 3-year-old Nashville girl who died Sept. 18 after
ingesting crack cocaine said yesterday that she doesn't believe the
results of an autopsy that found the crack caused her daughter's death.

''That's not why my baby died,'' said Narkeisha Webster, 23. ''She had
health problems. Look at the autopsy. You have more information than
me.

''You've been putting negative stuff in the paper,'' Webster told a
Tennessean reporter yesterday evening in a brief telephone call,
referring to previous news stories about the death of the girl, Jaylia
Reney Webster.

No charges have been filed, and police have not identified any
suspects.

A medical examiner's report released last week said that crack cocaine
in the girl's stomach caused her to die. Three pieces weighing a
combined .201 grams were sent to a laboratory for testing, but it was
not clear exactly how much was ingested.

Webster declined to answer any more questions from a reporter about
her daughter's death.

How cocaine got into Jaylia's stomach still is not publicly known.
Also not disclosed is the identity of the female neighbor who was
baby-sitting Jaylia and her sister Sept. 16, when Jaylia was taken to
the hospital with seizures.

The Nov. 4 medical examiner's report, a public record, makes its
finding clear: ''In my opinion, the cause of death is toxic effects of
cocaine . '' reads a summary in the autopsy report signed by Staci A.
Turner, an assistant medical examiner with the Metro medical
examiner's office. ''The manner of death is accident.''

The cocaine caused fluid in her lungs and abdomen, acute
bronchopneumonia and brain damage resulting from a lack of oxygen,
according to Turner's report.

Extensive laboratory tests on Jaylia's blood found drugs such as
pentobarbital and lorazepam, which are commonly prescribed for
seizures, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. The medical examiner's
report indicates the girl had a history of epilepsy, but the report
makes no mention of epilepsy causing her death.

Doctors at Monroe Carell Jr. Children's Hospital at Vanderbilt
University initially detected cocaine in Jaylia's blood after she
arrived Sept. 16. She died there two days later.

Narkeisha Webster told police that she went to get a pizza and left
Jaylia at home in the 1300 block of Hillside Avenue with Webster's
7-year-old daughter, Jakrya, and the a neighbor, police have said.

The mother told police she returned home to find Jaylia having a
seizure. Someone from the home then called 911, and an ambulance took
the girl to the hospital.

Webster's other daughter was taken into state custody and placed in a
grandmother's care soon after Jaylia died, police have said. The state
Department of Children's Services says Webster is allowed to have
supervised visits with the girl.

Whether anyone is charged in the case is up to Nashville prosecutors.
Metro police spokesman Don Aaron said the police department completed
its investigation last week, helped by a series of interviews that
ended last Friday.

Aaron said he could not divulge any details of the investigation or
say why police have not made an arrest.

''Generically speaking, it is not at all unusual for our investigators
to be in contact with the district attorney's office to discuss
strategy on investigations,'' Aaron said. ''The District Attorney's
office knows the essence of our investigation, and that office has
requested the case file. And that office will make the decision on
what will occur next.''

Katy Miller, assistant district attorney general, confirmed that she
has received the police file, but she declined to discuss the case.