A Missouri mother has been charged with giving her teenage daughter a fatal dose of fentanyl, causing her death after she complained of a toothache.
On Thursday, St. Louis prosecutors reported that they had charged Jacqueline Powers with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in the death of a child. court documents.
On October 3, Powers' 14-year-old daughter complained of a toothache at her home in the St. Louis suburb of Overland.
The mother initially tried to give the child Tylenol for pain relief, but it didn't work, so she allegedly gave the child pills she found in a drawer.
The girl was found dead about 10 hours after taking the pills, Oberland police said.
The mother told police she thought she had given her daughter oxycodone from a previous surgery. According to Fox 2 Now.
However, an autopsy revealed that the child died of a fentanyl overdose and tested negative for oxycodone.
Powers told investigators he had the fentanyl pills because he had traded some oxycodone with his mother to “protect” her from the dangerous pills he allegedly bought on the street.
Police said Powers then placed the pills in his drawer and eventually gave them to his daughter.
Powers “admitted to giving what appeared to be prescription painkillers to the victim, and other street drugs were located in the home where other minor children were present,” police said. warrant From the 21st Judicial Circuit Court of St. Louis County.
“This is a tragedy,” Overland Police Department Lt. Jim Morgan said, according to the report. fox 2 now.
“That shouldn’t happen.”
Powers was arrested and was seen being led away from his home in Overland in handcuffs on Friday, the newspaper said.
She is being held in the St. Louis County Jail on $150,000 bail.
Powers is scheduled to reappear in court on November 19th for a bail reduction hearing.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11.
“Endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree resulting in the death of a child” is considered a Class A felony.
This is the most serious charge under this law.
This represents a situation in which the child's welfare is seriously compromised, resulting in death, and therefore can result in the most severe penalties.
According to state law, if convicted, Powers could be sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.
