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 - "Simplicity 4-in-1"
Model # 3112DOH6
With Winnie the Pooh Decorations
Simplicity For Children
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BENTONVILLE, Ark. – Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has stopped online sales of a Simplicity Inc. bassinet that is under investigation by federal safety officials after an infant death, although the bed is still available in the retailer's stores.
Wal-Mart did not explain why the "Simplicity 4-in-1 Winnie the Pooh" bassinet was dropped from walmart.com. Earlier this week, the Consumer Product Safety Commission confirmed it is investigating the bassinet.
Wal-Mart is the only retailer that carries the bassinet, according to Simplicity. It is not part of a recall last month of 1 million cribs from Reading, Penn.-based Simplicity that were sold at several retailers including Wal-Mart.
On Tuesday, the CPSC said it was investigating the crib after local authorities in southwest Missouri blamed its design for the Sept. 29 asphyxiation death of 4-month-old Katelynn Marie Simon. The sheriff's department and coroner said the infant became trapped between the mattress and a railing.
By late Thursday, the bassinet, with a model number of 3112DOH6, was no longer listed on walmart.com after being on the site as late as Tuesday evening.
Wal-Mart spokeswoman Tara Raddohl said the model is still sold in stores. In an e-mail exchange, she said she did not know why the product is no longer available on the chain's Web site.
"Customer safety is a top priority. The initial testing has shown no safety concerns with this product," Raddohl said.
Raddohl said Wal-Mart is aware that Simplicity "is working closely with the CPSC to ensure the product is safe for its intended use."
Simplicity spokesman Joe Householder declined to comment on Wal-Mart's decision to pull the bed from online sales. Simplicity has declined to comment on the bassinet's design, citing the CPSC investigation.
Neither Simplicity nor Wal-Mart provided the number of the bassinets sold in the past.
Mother Elizabeth Simon and her boyfriend Chris Priddy, of Jane, Mo., found the baby girl unresponsive in her bed around 9:30 a.m. on Sept. 29. Authorities said the girl's parents told them she had been fine during a 5 a.m. feeding.
The McDonald County sheriff's deputy who investigated the death, Jeff Sutherland, said the infant became pinned between the lower of two horizontal railings and her mattress. Katelynn's death was ruled an "accidental positional asphyxiation" by the coroner.
Both Sutherland and coroner B.J. Goodwin have said they want the bassinet recalled as dangerous. Elizabeth Simon, through a lawyer, has also said the bed should be pulled from the market.
Sutherland notified the CPSC after the death. He said an agency investigator came in last week to look at the bassinet and to watch a reconstruction of the accident in the baby's home.
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