Crib fatality of NNY girl among cases stirring recall

SPRAGUEVILLE — Larry R. Barr's heart aches whenever he looks at 3-year-old granddaughter Carly Ann, because she looks so much like her fraternal twin, Courtney Sue, who suffocated in a defective crib more than two years ago.

"I still have my moments when it's more than I can stand," Mr. Barr said. "It just torments me."

On Monday, government safety officials announced the voluntary recall of more than 2 million drop-side cribs made by the Stork Craft company — the biggest crib recall in U.S. history.

The death of Courtney Sue Barr, daughter of Ashley Johnson and Gary A. Barr, Spragueville Road, was among cases cited by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission that led to the recall.

The recall is only for drop-side cribs with plastic trigger and one-hand-system hardware. If the crib's drop side detaches, it creates space between the drop side and the crib mattress.

In its release, the Consumer Product Safety Commission said it was aware of 110 incidents in which the crib's drop side detached, including 15 that resulted in entrapment. Of those, four resulted in suffocation, which included Courtney Sue.

On May 1, 2007, Ms. Johnson found Courtney Sue trapped between the mattress and the crib gate, Mr. Barr said. State police determined her death accidental after an autopsy found she suffocated because of her position in the crib.

"She was only 7 months old and in perfect health," said Mr. Barr, who lives next door to his son and his family. "It was just a terrible thing."

The child's other grandparents, George and Connie LaBow, Gouverneur, had bought the twins the cribs at Walmart. Mr. Barr said he helped his son put one of the beds together. His son and Mr. LaBow put the other crib together, Mr. Barr said.

The crib had flimsy plastic guards where Mr. Barr said he thought metal would have served better.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission warned the crib's plastic hardware can break or deform. It also cautioned that the drop side can be installed upside down, which can result in broken or disengaged plastic parts.

That can cause detachment of the drop side; complete detachment can lead to falls from the crib.

After Courtney Sue's death, investigators took the bed as evidence.

"We told them we didn't want it back, so I assume they destroyed it," Mr. Barr said. "We destroyed the other one because we didn't want to take a chance. I burnt it."

They replaced it with an Amish-made crib that had stationary sides and a mattress that fit snugly against its walls.

The recall of approximately 1,213,000 cribs in the United States and 968,000 in Canada was made in cooperation with Stork Craft Manufacturing, British Columbia. About 147,000 of the cribs have a Fisher-Price logo.

For additional information, call Stork Craft toll free at 1 (877) 274-0277 to order the free repair kit, or log on to www.stork

craft.com.

Mr. Barr said his family wasn't notified personally of the recall, but he was glad that other children and their parents might be spared pain. His son's family is trying to move on.

"They went to the graveside every day for over a year," Mr. Barr said.