Woman tries to smother 7-month-old in Kalahari lot

astolfi@sanduskyregister.comA Michigan woman was arrested for attempted murder Friday afternoon after she tried to smother her 7-month-old daughter in the Kalahari Resorts parking lot.Ruth Smith, 33, of Lansing, is now being held behind bars in the Erie County jail without bond. Officials said the infant is alive and well despite her mother's actions.Smith dialed 911 at about 3:30 p.m., calmly asking for emergency responders at the U.S. 250 water park.Her voice then turned high-pitched and emotional. "I'm trying to kill my daughter," Smith sobbed to an Erie County dispatcher. Deputies responded to Kalahari Resorts, soon finding the baby alert and apparently healthy. The seven-month-old was rushed to Firelands Regional Medical Center, but now appears as if she'll be fine, deputies said.Smith, meanwhile, was escorted to the Erie County Sheriff's Office. She was interviewed by detectives, and disclosed without hesitation the plans she had made to kill her child, Erie County Chief Deputy Jared Oliver said."She admitted to our detectives she'd been planning to kill her daughter for the past couple of days," Oliver said. Smith explained she was in a custody dispute with the infant's father — and opted to kill the child, rather than let the father have custody. On Friday, Smith set out from her Lansing, Mich. home, and after a few hours of driving, pulled into the Kalahari lot.She then waited for her daughter to fall asleep.Smith used a pillow to smother the baby for "upwards of ten minutes," until she lost consciousness, Oliver said.Smith believed the child died — but the infant awoke a short while later. When that happened, Smith called 911 and admitted what she'd done.The father drove to Sandusky Friday night to tend to the baby, and Children's Services workers stayed at the hospital until he arrived.Erie County prosecutor Kevin Baxter ultimately had deputies charge Smith with one first-degree felony count of attempted murder.She will be held in jail over the weekend until her arraignment at Huron Municipal Court. ORIGINAL POST 5 p.m.A Michigan woman is now in custody for attempted murder after she tried to smother her 7-month-old daughter in the Kalahari Resorts parking lot about one hour ago.Ruth Smith, 33, of Lansing, is being held behind bars in the Erie County jail. Her daughter is currently being treated at Firelands Regional Medical Center, but officials said the infant is alive and well despite her mother's actions.Erie County sheriff's detectives have been interviewing Smith since they learned of the incident at about 3:40 p.m. today. On her own admission, Smith said she drove from Michigan to Kalahari this afternoon, and had been planning to kill the baby for a few days.When she arrived in the parking lot, Smith waited for her daughter to fall asleep, Erie County Chief Deputy Jared Oliver said. When the infant finally did, the woman allegedly used a pillow to smother her for "upwards of ten minutes," until she lost consciousness, Oliver said.Smith then believed the child had died — but the infant awoke a short while later.When that happened, Smith called 911 and reported she had just tried to kill her child.Oliver said Smith is in the midst of a custody dispute with the girl's father, and told investigators she preferred to kill the baby rather than allow her to live with the father.Smith will be held without bond until a court appearance next week.The father is now on his way to Erie County to be with the child.