Father is angry after baby dies in meth house

Cole Morrow hardly ever got to see his infant daughter during her short life.

Now, he has her ashes in a brass box inside his house in Wells, Nev. He also has a picture of her and other small mementos surrounding the box.

Estella Lacey was just 5 months old when she died Dec. 28 after an overdose of methamphetamine, which she picked up in the Taylorsville house where she lived with her birth mother, Mary Joyce Lacey, and her mother's boyfriend, Raymond Daniel Chesley.

Lacey, 22, and Chesley, 43, have been charged in 3rd District Court with desecration of a dead body, a third-degree felony. Chesley was also charged with child endangerment, a first-degree felony.

According to police, even her daughter's death apparently wasn't enough to kick Lacey's meth addiction. When she turned herself in to police, officers say they found her in possession of more of the illicit drug.

To Morrow, it wasn't that surprising.

Estella Lacey was born to Morrow and Mary Lacey in Utah. The two were never married, and just two weeks after the birth of Estella, they separated.

Morrow said Lacey had drug problems before they met and believed she would go back to that lifestyle after their separation.

Estella lived in deplorable conditions during her short life, according to Morrow.

"She was living in a meth house. It looked like crap over there. It was just what you'd think a crack house would look like," he said.

Morrow said he rarely got to see his daughter because Lacey wouldn't let him. He believes he got to see his daughter only a half-dozen times for 20 minutes each visit during her life.

About two weeks before Estella's death, Morrow took his daughter and fled to Nevada. A judge forced Morrow to return the girl. Morrow says claims it was because his name was not on the birth certificate and because of lies told to the judge.

Estella was returned Dec. 20. She was dead eight days later.

Authorities allege the infant found a plastic bag of meth belonging to Chesley and ate the drug. Despite her suffering through several hours of violent reaction to the drug, no one called 911, police said.

After the baby died, police say the couple moved her body to a house in Murray before reporting the death.