Mom held in death of 8-week-old girl

A Tucson mother has been arrested in the death of her infant daughter.

Stacy Anne Banks, 37, was booked into the Pima County jail, suspected of second-degree murder in the death of her 8-week-old daughter, Neveah.

Pima County sheriff's deputies responded to a call of a child not breathing at about 9:20 a.m. Friday.

The baby was taken from a home in the 6600 block of South Downing Avenue to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Banks told homicide detectives that she had taken illegal drugs the previous night before nursing the baby, said Deputy Thomas Peine, a Sheriff's Department spokesman.

Although Banks had a crib available for Neveah, she opted to sleep on an air mattress with the infant and a 1-year-old child because Neveah cried when placed in the crib. According to the Sheriff's Department, Banks "knew the air mattress had a tendency to deflate through the course of the night."

During the night Banks rolled over onto her daughter, investigators said.

An autopsy is pending.

Banks has served time in prison for narcotics violations and solicitation.