COCAINE FOUND IN DEAD BOY'S SYSTEM

WEST PALM BEACH - A woman who found her 4-year-old son unconscious in
her swimming pool faces a manslaughter charge because authorities found
cocaine in the child's system.

According to a Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office report, Dylan Cassone
ingested cocaine sometime in the four hours before his mother, Kerry
Cassone, reported finding her son unconscious in the pool behind her
apartment at 12:30 p.m. March 19.

On Friday, deputies arrested Cassone, 29, on a charge of aggravated
manslaughter of a child. She was being held Saturday without bail at
Palm Beach County Jail and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted.

Cassone told investigators she tried to resuscitate her son before she
called for help. Her son was taken to the hospital and died three days
later after he was taken off life support.

The 15-page arrest report does not say how the boy ingested the
cocaine or how much he ingested. It also does not say if the cocaine,
which was detected in urine collected while the child was in the
hospital, caused his death.

The boy nearly drowned in the same pool Nov. 11, 1996, the report
states.