Former L.S. mother files lawsuit against police, city

BY PAM STEVENS | EDITOR After her four-month-old son, Noah was found dead in her Lake Stevens apartment in June of 2007, Bonnie Desmond, now Bonnie Peterson was arrested and faced manslaughter charges for the infant’s death.

Peterson, who was 19-years-old at the time of the child’s death, has now filed a lawsuit against detectives, the Lake Stevens and Arlington Police Departments, the cities of both Lake Stevens and Arlington and Snohomish County, according to papers filed in U.S. Federal Court on May 27.

Peterson alleges that her rights were violated because the police had no probable cause for arresting her.

Peterson missed her son’s funeral because she was in jail at the time.
During their investigation, police found that Peterson had taped a pacifier to the baby’s mouth, fed him peanut butter and had tied his arms with pajamas.

“I am very confident that our officers and detectives made the right decision and that the City will aggressively defend the lawsuit. I expect a positive outcome,” Lake Stevens Police Chief Randy Celori said.

Representatives from the City of Lake Stevens could not comment because they had not been informed of the lawsuit yet.

In September of that same year, prosecutors dismissed the case because the medical examiner could not determine that Peterson caused the infant’s death.

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