A Note To Our Baby Zachary

by Scott and Rebecca Burlette 
Zachary Wayne Burlette born February 9, 1999 -- died June 25,1999.

Monday, January 31, 2000

Zachary was 4 and 1/2 months old. He went to the doctor two days before he died for a check up. Everything was fine. We had tried for months to get his formula right because none agreed with him. He was already eating baby fruits. At 4 months Zachary was walking across the kitchen floor in his walker. He was strong and weighed 18 pounds. On the morning of June 25th, 1999 Zachary was found dead. 911 was called but it was apparent he was dead, so the EMTs called the police and the coroner. Zachary's grandmother was told to put him on the kitchen table and we all were forced not to enter the kitchen or bedroom. We were only reluctantly allowed to the bathroom. We waited for the coroner to arrive for 2 hours. The pain. When the coroner finally got there, she took Zachary out in a white zipped up plastic bag and put him on the floorboard of her car. She shut the car door. Then conversed with the police officers for about 5 minutes. The coroner got back in her car and drove off with our Zachary. We were treated like criminals and even threatened with jail. The coroner's report stated that Zachary died of accidental positional asphyxia, because he was found in the bed with his overweight parents, even though his face was to the side and there were no pillows or blankets around him. We met with the coroner, and when we walked in she said we had 5 minutes because she had to be somewhere. She did not tell us this when we made the appointment. Nothing we said mattered and we did not get any answers. We feel she made an assumption and did her autopsy to fit her assumption. She was cold, and she tried to make it seem like our fault. It seemed as though she didn't care that we loved Zachary and he was the light of our life. We were extremely careful. He did not have babysitters, he had 72 pacifiers, and everything any baby could need or want. He was strong and big and woke up instantly if someone would touch him while sleeping, yet he is dead. The next time we saw Zachary, it was at his funeral. It is extremely difficult and there is a big hole in our lives.