A 17-year-old Florida mother is in custody for killing her 9-month-old baby boy after an investigation into his sudden death revealed he had enough fentanyl in his system to kill 10 people.
The young mother, who has not been named due to her age, has been charged with aggravated manslaughter and possession of a controlled substance after authorities found her son unresponsive and without a pulse on June 26, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper stated in a press conference.
First responders attempted life-saving measures, but the infant was pronounced dead after arriving at a local medical facility, Leeper explained.
“He should’ve been crawling, should’ve been laughing, most importantly, kept safe.” 💔
Florida baby dies after teen mom put enough fentanyl to kill 10 people in bottle thinking it was cocaine, deputies say https://t.co/GqlUw49IH0 pic.twitter.com/QqujD1oP0d
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) July 12, 2023
After initially telling officers she had simply put him down for a nap only to return to find him not breathing, a report from the medical examiner’s office on July 10 revealed the child had 29 nanograms of fentanyl per mL of blood in his system, enough to kill 10 grown men, according to Leeper.
When confronted with the report, the mother reportedly admitted to police officers that she had wanted to take a nap and so prepared her son’s bottle with formula and what she believed to be cocaine so that he would sleep, according to Leeper.
“Our deputies respond to many situations everyday — they see a lot. It sometimes seems over the years that nothing surprises us anymore,” Leeper said. “Who does that? What mother would do that? That’s not normal. That is sick. It’s beyond my imagination why a mother would do that to her child.” (RELATED: Parents Charged After Two-Year-Old Overdoses On Fentanyl)
The young mother was subsequently arrested and booked into jail, telling officials there that she was late for her menstrual cycle and might be pregnant again, Leeper revealed.
“Unfortunately, some babies are born to individuals who have no business being parents,” he said, adding that there are resources available for parents who are struggling.