Television Host's Baby, Babysitter Die on Long Island

A one-month-old baby boy died after he was found unresponsive underneath the body of his unconscious babysitter at his Long Island home.

The baby is the child of Michael Baldwin II, a News 12 reporter and host of the program "Diverse Long Island."

Baldwin told NBC New York the babysitter, 39-year-old Teresa Coffey, was an acquaintance of his wife and had been asking for an opportunity to watch the infant. When Baldwin was called into work Thursday, he said he was in a bind and felt he had no other option but to ask Coffey to babysit.

At about 6 p.m., Coffey left a voicemail message for Baldwin while he was at work and said the baby was crying and fussy. When he attempted to call her back, she did not answer the phone.

Baldwin returned home to find Coffey motionless on the couch and assumed she was asleep, he said. He looked for his son in his crib and around the house but could not find him.

That's when he tried to shaking Coffey awake and found his baby underneath her.

Suffolk County Police responded to the scene and administered CPR on the baby. The boy was taken to Huntington Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Coffey was also pronounced dead a short time later, police said.

The medical examiner is conducting autopsies and the investigation continues. Baldwin said he was not aware of a medical condition for Coffey, and would not speculate on a manner of death.

Baldwin said he and his wife had only recently returned home with the newborn; the baby spent weeks in the hospital for a medical condition. 

On Aug. 18, Baldwin tweeted that his son was finally coming home after 17 days.

"Can't wait!" he wrote.

News 12 released a statement Friday, saying "Our thoughts and sympathies are with the Baldwin family during this difficult time."

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