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Police in Florida have arrested a teenage mother in the death of her 9-month-old infant after she allegedly gave the child a fentanyl-laced baby bottle.
The teen, who wasn’t publicly named due to her age, reportedly told police she believed she had given the baby cocaine and not fentanyl — a powerful and deadly synthetic opioid, WESH reports.
The medical examiner ultimately found the child had 27 nanograms of fentanyl in his system, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper told WESH. That’s nine times the amount that can kill a fully-grown adult, he added.
Additionally, authorities said the amount of fentanyl the baby had in his system could kill 10 people.
“Most babies are born to loving parents who take care of all of their needs, but unfortunately, some babies are born to individuals who have no business being parents,” Leeper said at a press conference.
“It’s beyond my imagination why a mother would do that to her child,” Leeper told KALB.
Leeper added that the teen said she believed she was pregnant as she was being booked following her June 26 arrest.
On June 26, the tired, young mother prepared a bottle intending to put her infant son to sleep, as reported by KALB.
“She got the baby’s bottle, filled it with formula, then went to the bathroom and found a pill bottle,” Leeper said. “She put some of what she thought was cocaine in the bottle.”
Deputies were called to the home after the child didn’t wake up. Furthermore, KALB reports that emergency personnel attempted to perform life-saving measures.
“She laid him down in his crib to go to sleep and he never woke up,” Leeper said, as per CBS News. “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.”
However, authorities pronounced him dead after rushing the child to a nearby hospital.
On Monday (Jul. 10), the medical examiner officially ruled the child’s death as a fentanyl overdose.
Additionally, Sheriff Leeper claimed there were other adults at the home at the time of the infant’s fentanyl poisoning. He added more charges could follow, according to WESH. An investigation into the child’s death remains ongoing.
Meanwhile, the 17-year-old mother currently faces charges of aggravated manslaughter and possession of a controlled substance.
