The tragic news came from the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base on April 16.
Three children died at the North Carolina military facility on the same day. Marine Corps officials said the children died in two separate and unrelated incidents.
Two of the children were sisters, ages 4 and 6, according to NBC affiliate WITN.com, and the third child was a 4-month-old baby boy. The deaths occurred in the parents’ homes.
The two girls' deaths have been linked to Pillowfort Weighted Blankets, which were sold exclusively at Target (TGT) stores nationwide.
Target and the Consumer Product Safety Commission announced the recall of about 204,000 Pillowfort Weighted Blankets because a young child can become entrapped by unzipping and entering the blanket, posing a risk of death by asphyxiation.
The siblings at Camp Lejeune became entrapped in the cover of the weighted blanket and died due to asphyxia. Target has received a total of four reports of children becoming entrapped in these weighted blankets, including the two fatalities.
The blankets were made in China and sold from December 2018 through September 2022 for $40.
Target Contacting Customers
The blankets weigh six pounds, measure 60 inches long and 40 inches wide, and have a waterproof cover that is removable for washing.
The blankets come in eight prints or colors including unicorn white, space navy, pink, blue, gray, buffalo plaid red, blue constellation, and unicorn pink.
Item numbers 097-02-0140 (Unicorn - White), 097-02-0148 (Space Navy), 097-02-0361(Pink), 097-02-0363 (Blue), 097-02-0364 (Gray), 097-02-1603 (Buffalo Plaid – Red), 097-02-3904 (Blue Constellation) and 097-02-3905 (Unicorn – Pink) are printed on the fabric tag attached to the removable covers of the blankets.
Consumers may contact Target at 800-440-0680 from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. CT daily to receive a prepaid return label to return the blankets by mail or return them to any Target store.
They may also go to www.target.com and click on “Recall Information”, then on “Home Goods” for more information.
Target is also contacting all known purchasers directly to arrange returns, the CPSC said.
Consumers will receive a $40 refund in the form of a credit for use at Target stores or online at www.target.com, or the amount on the purchase receipt if higher. Consumers can also click the “Products Recalls” tab on Target’s Facebook page for more information.
Blankets Removed From Assortment
Joe Unger, a Target spokesman, said customers who own any of these products should immediately stop using them and return them to Target for a full refund.
"We send our deepest condolences and support to the family that lost their loved ones," Unger said. "As soon as we became aware of the situation, we acted quickly to begin removing Pillowfort Weighted Blankets from our assortment and have pulled all of these items from sale."
Unger said the department store operator is cooperating with the CPSC product manufacturer in the recall and is in the process of alerting consumers.
A spokesperson for the Naval Criminal Investigative Service said the inquiry into the third child's death at Camp Lejeune is continuing and the agency would not comment upon an ongoing investigation.
Each year, about 2,000 children ages 14 and under die as a result of a home injury, according to the Stanford Medicine Children’s Health website.
Unintentional home injury deaths to children are caused primarily by fire and burns, suffocation, drowning, firearms, falls, choking, and poisoning.
