NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A teenage mother was arrested Tuesday after Florida police said she put what she believed was cocaine in her baby’s bottle, but it turned out to be fentanyl, which killed the baby.
On June 26, the Nassau County Sheriff’s Office said deputies were called to a residence for reports of a baby boy who had no pulse and wasn’t breathing. The baby was taken to Baptists North Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to the arrest report, the mother, a 17-year-old, “initially lied” to deputies about the events that led up to her 9-month-old’s death and claimed she didn’t know what happened.
During a press conference Wednesday, Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said autopsy results revealed that the baby boy had enough fentanyl in his system to kill about 10 people.
Following the results, investigators called the mother in for an interview Tuesday to ask what happened, but deputies said “several inconsistencies in her statement were proven to be lies,” and she ultimately confessed to what happened.
According to Leeper, on the day that the baby died, the mother was tired and wanted to take a nap, so she gave the baby a bottle.
“However, what is not normal is what the mother put in the baby’s bottle to put him to sleep,” Leeper said.
Leeper said the mother went into the bathroom and found a pill bottle containing what she thought was cocaine and put it in the bottle. However, according to police, it was actually fentanyl.
“He should’ve been crawling, should’ve been laughing, most importantly, kept safe. Unfortunately, this was not the case,” Leeper said.
The 17-year-old was arrested on aggravated manslaughter and possession of a controlled substance, according to the sheriff. He added that while the mother was being booked into jail, she notified officials that she hasn’t had her period in a while and could be pregnant again.
NCSO is not identifying the young mother at this time. The Florida Department of Children and Families is investigating the case. NCSO is also investigating as well.