Milwaukee woman charged with smothering son

MILWAUKEE (AP) - A Milwaukee woman has been charged with suffocating her 14-month-old son.

Police arrested 36-year-old Nora Zylstra after his father asked for a welfare check Sunday. Leonidas Fischer was dead in his crib. Officers found her moaning and lying in bed with a bottle of pills nearby.

The complaint filed Tuesday says Zylstra told police she was distraught because the boy's father moved out last month. She said he returned to pick up belongings Saturday, and rebuffed her pleas to reconcile for the good of their son.

The complaint says she admitted taking several prescription pills Saturday night and early Sunday before smothering the boy, then dressed him in his Christmas outfit before trying to kill herself with a toaster in the bathtub.