8-year-old girl died of asphyxiation

AMHERST, N.Y. (WIVB) - Autopsy results now indicate an 8-year-old girl died of asphyxiation at her mother's home in Amherst last fall.

Autopsy results on 8-year-old Bianca Cartagena determined the cause of death was asphyxia. Her body was discovered by her aunt and grandfather on November 30th at the Amherst home of her mother.

Bianca's aunt, Casie Croff said, "She was laying there. She had been completely covered with blankets up over her head."

Bianca's mother, Candace, had been found semi-conscious in a shed in the backyard. She later told her family she had been taking pills. In a letter to her mother she wrote, "I would never ever hurt Bianca and just the possibility that I did something to her and not know it terrifies me beyond belief."

>> Bianca was found dead in the home. Her mother was found in a shed

>> At the time, her death was considered a mystery

>> Read the autopsy report on Bianca here

Bianca's grandmother, Kathy Sweeney, said, "You had a responsibility for that little girl and now you have a responsibility for being accountable for what happened to her. I left her in your care and she's dead."

"Smothering or chest compression," said the medical examiners, "can be deliberately caused or a result of an accident." "The manner of death," it was concluded, "is best certified as undetermined."

Right now no charges have been placed against the mother.

Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita said, "You can't go into a court of law as a homicide prosecutor or any prosecutor for that matter and accuse somebody of a homicide unless you can prove it is, indeed, in fact, with proof, a homicide."

Indications of an illicit drug known as GHB were found in Bianca's blood, but News 4 has been told the chemical can also be produced naturally in the body.

Amherst Police Capt. Enzio Villalta said, "That is something we'll be consulting with the Medical Examiner's office regarding. It just says it was positive, it doesn't say at what level."

Bianca's mother, Candace, has a lawyer and isn't talking. Her attorney, John Nuchereno, said, "She loved her daughter dearly and never meant any harm or caused any harm to her daughter, never."