In a tragic case that has gripped the Maryland community, a young mother has been charged with murder following the death of her infant daughter after what has been described as a night of heavy drinking. Destiny Faith Chiveral, 24, is accused of causing the death of her 5-week-old daughter, an incident that has led to her facing charges of first-degree and second-degree murder, as well as child abuse resulting in both death and severe bodily injury.

The heartbreaking event unfolded in Rising Sun on December 4th, when Chiveral’s daughter was found deceased at a residence. Maryland State Police were called to the scene, and the agency’s homicide unit quickly assumed control of the investigation. The Cecil Whig, a local news outlet, reported grim details from court documents, revealing that the previous evening had begun as a “girls night” but ended in tragedy.

The court documents divulged that Chiveral, who typically lived with her grandmother along with her two children in Charleston, Maryland, had been attending a gathering at another person’s house in Rising Sun on the night of December 3rd. The night, meant for leisure, turned disastrous by the next morning. Chiveral awoke at around 9 a.m. on December 4th to find her baby girl, named K.C., unresponsive, prompting her to call emergency services.

Upon arrival, paramedics observed that the infant was “cold, lifeless, and had clearly been deceased for some time,” noting the onset of rigor mortis as they were unable to extend her legs. K.C. was officially pronounced dead at 9:17 a.m., a confirmation that shook the community.

In her account to the police, Chiveral suggested that the baby might have become trapped “between a couch cushion and the rear of the couch.” However, an autopsy revealed the cause of death as blunt force trauma, highlighting “bleeding to the back of the brain” along with other signs of physical trauma, painting a more disturbing picture of the infant’s final moments.

According to the documents, investigators confiscated Chiveral’s phone and found a public digital account of what allegedly occurred in the hours leading up to the baby’s death. In a number of Snapchat videos sent from Chiveral’s account between 11:06 p.m. on Dec. 3 and 1:34 a.m. on Dec. 4, detectives determined that Chiveral “became intoxicated” while she was with K.C. in the Rising Sun residence. Police said that the baby can be heard crying in several of the videos.

In one video, Chiveral reportedly wrangled with a baby gate while drunk and vaping, police said. She can reportedly be heard saying, “I’m too (expletive) drunk for that. I’m just going to (expletive) climb over the (expletive) (expletive).”

In another video, while Chiveral was in the bathroom, she said, “I don’t know if you hear the (expletive) baby trippin’ in the background” as the baby cried in the background.

Police said the last video she sent depicted her with the hiccups, saying, per the documents, “She’s (expletive) tri-(hiccup) trippin’… But aside that, like, she’s the chillest baby until she’s (hiccup) mad about something like (yawns) this is the baddest that she’s been in a wh-(hiccup) while and if I can tell you the tea that I know, you’d be like, but honestly I love you but don’t trust you enough to tell you…”

A different video taken at 1:34 a.m. showed the baby alive. Police wrote that a framed picture on the wall that was straight in the video was observed to be “significantly ajar.”

Chiveral told police that she only had one drink and “one Smirnoff shot.” Police found a “nearly empty bottle of vodka” in the residence that a witness said belonged to her. The witness told police that the bottle was almost full when she put it in the freezer days earlier.

Police interviewed Chiveral a second time, after the autopsy was conducted on her daughter, and informed her that K.C.’s death was ruled a homicide. She was told about the injuries found on her daughter, and said, “I swear I never did anything to her… I would never do that,” according to court documents.

As she attempted to come up with a possible explanation for her daughter’s injuries, Chiveral claimed that she would sleepwalk when she drank. She also suggested that she could have kicked the baby while they both slept on the couch together. Police said Chiveral also told them that her older child, a toddler, was “rough” with the baby, but the toddler was at their father’s house that night.

Police said that during the second interview, Chiveral said, “Nothing I say is going to fix this, is it? No matter what, I’m going to be blamed for her death, ain’t I?”

Chiveral was arrested and charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, child abuse resulting in the death of a child under 13 years old, and child abuse resulting in severe bodily injury. She is in custody at the Cecil County Detention Center, where she is being held without bond. Her next court date is scheduled for Jan. 9, 2026.