A Pennsylvania mother has been accused of killing her son by poisoning his sippy cup with an opioid.
Jennifer Clarey, 42, has been charged with criminal homicide, investigators announced this week, nearly a month after her 2-year-old son Mazikeen Curtis was found dead inside his house in Tullytown on Aug. 25.
An investigation since the death turned up evidence to support the charge.
MOTHER CHARGED: Pennsylvania mother charged with homicide in poisoning death of 2-year-old son: https://t.co/wLUCJvZzur
— KDKA (@KDKA) September 19, 2018
Search Turns Up Empty Bottles
Court documents obtained by ABC 6 state that Clarey allegedly poisoned her son by putting Vicodin inside his sippy cup, causing the toddler to overdose.
The cup was sent to a lab and tests revealed the presence of the opioid inside the cup and on the cup; authorities found an empty Vicodin prescription bottle inside a closed lockbox in the house, along with a knife and utility razorblades with blood on them. Clarey had apparently tried to slit her wrists, reported Fox 29.
A bottle of Benadryl was also found, and an ingredient in Benadryl, diphenhydramine, was determined as a cause of death along with hydrocodone.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Vicodin’s main component is hydrocodone, the opioid that became infamous after the prescription drug epidemic across the nation left thousands dead in recent years, detailed in a number of articles and books such as “Dreamland.”
Tullytown is located in Bucks County, one of the counties hardest-hit by the epidemic.
Neighbors Called in Welfare Check
Authorities found the dead 2-year-old after neighbors called requesting a welfare check. Dawn Dunlap said Clarey was acting strange, prompting the call.
“Me and my other neighbor, we discussed it and said, ‘You know what, this is something we have to do,'” Dunlap told ABC 6. “It wasn’t something that I had ever seen before so for me to hear and see what I was seeing was just not her.”
Another neighbor, Bill Winters, told Fox 29 that what happened was “sick” and “twisted.”
“I can’t imagine what would make somebody want to do something like that,” the neighbor said.
“I mean you got a 2-year-old kid and they look up to them. You’re the one that’s supposed to protect them, you know and bring them up and teach them wrong from right. I can’t imagine. It’s sick. It’s twisted.”
Winters noted that he has a 2-year-old granddaughter.
Clarey has been ordered held without bail.
