1-Year-Old Left Alone By Dad, Died From Percocet Pills: Police

WEST ALLIS, WI — The father of a 1-year-old child has been arrested for child neglect after police say he was responsible for letting his daughter go unsupervised, leading to her death. An autopsy reveals the child likely died from ingesting painkillers, according to documents released Friday.

Robert Gibson of West Allis was charged with one count of chronic child neglect leading to a child's death, according to court records. If convicted, he faces up to 40 years in prison. Gibson is currently being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on a $10,000 bond.

West Allis police officers responded to a home on the 1700 block of S. 88th Street on a report of a 1-year-old child who was unresponsive and cold to the touch on the afternoon of July 28, according to Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office records. When one of the officers opened the door, he saw a woman holding the lifeless body of the child, Isabella Gibson, and a man next to her, identified as Gibson, said the baby was "cold already," according to the criminal complaint.

Gibson told police he left his daughter unattended for about 40 minutes when he drove his wife to work around 7 p.m., then put her to bed at 9:30 p.m., according to the criminal complaint. He left her alone again for about 40 minutes when he went to pick his wife up at the end of her shift at 2 a.m., the complaint said.

Authorities say Isabella was sleeping at 2:30 a.m. when her mother checked on her, and was still sleeping at 10:30 a.m. Gibson checked on Isabella at 1 p.m. and she was lifeless and cold to the touch, according to the complaint.

The day after Isabella died, a witness video recorded a conversation between Gibson and his wife that authorities said showed Gibson was worried investigators would find Percocet in her system. In the recordings, Gibson said he was worried Isabella had gotten into a bag of Percocet pills, that he had found a piece of cellophane in her mouth and that she was trying to vomit, according to the complaint.

“I know she is still going to have (percs) in her system and someone is getting charged for it. It was my fatherly ... duty. I was the one watching her. It was my responsibility,” Gibson was recorded saying, according to the criminal complaint.

According to investigators, Gibson set up a deal to buy 20 Percocet pills on the morning of July 27 near the TJ Maxx store at 76th Street and Coldspring Road. When police questioned Gibson's father, he admitted that he went to the house on July 27 to get the Percocet pills his son had bought for him, only to learn that his son "lost them," according to the complaint.

Gibson's father admitted to police that he had been getting Percocet pills from his son for the last six months, investigators said.

Related Reading
Win free Patch.com gear from us! Here's How
Stay up-to-date with with Patch! Sign up for Newsletters and E-Mail Alert

Milwaukee County Jail Photo