A Queensland mother did not check on her baby for about 21 hours before finding the nine-month-old's body, a court has been told.
Natalie Whitehead, 36, will remain behind bars charged with murder over the death of her son Dexter after bail was denied in the Brisbane Supreme Court.
By her own version of events, Whitehead put the child down at about 8.30pm and didn't check on him until 5pm the next day, the court was told.
The crown case against her alleges she had been using drugs with her former partner and co-accused Andrew William Campbell in the period leading up to the child's death.
The body of Dexter Wilton was found by paramedics inside a property at Raceview in Ipswich, on June 21, 2019.
"The applicant was holding the deceased infant to her chest and crying," Justice Lincoln Crowley said on Friday.
Whitehead's lawyer Josh Fenton conceded a case of manslaughter was reasonably strong, but submitted the same couldn't be said for murder.
Prosecutor Matt Le Grand argued there is evidence to show the accused acted with reckless indifference to life and the child would probably die from her actions.
Evidence suggested the child's health had deteriorated rapidly in the days between staying with other relatives and his death, and the home was in a squalid state, he said.
It's alleged Dexter was in relatively good health when he was returned to his mother, and was malnourished and dehydrated when he died.
As well as murder, Whitehead faces a number of others charges including interfering with a corpse.
In refusing bail, Justice Crowley agreed Whitehead would be an unacceptable risk of failure to appear in court.
The case is next due for mention on July 27.
