Mother in US arrested after 5-year-old son dies from drinking apple juice laced with meth

5-year-old boy dies after drinking apple juice laced with methamphetamine

A mother in the United States (US) was arrested after her five-year-old son drank apple juice containing methamphetamine and died.

According to a statement from the Riviera Beach Police Department on Facebook, the child was found struggling to breathe on 23 March at a hotel in Florida.

He was treated by paramedics before being transported to St. Mary’s Medical Center in critical condition, where he later passed away.

Boy showed seizure-like symptoms & vomited before dying at hospital

Following the investigation, it was revealed that the boy’s mother, Heather Opsincs, had left a plastic bottle of apple juice containing methamphetamine open in the fridge of her room at the Sands Hotel.

Source: Riviera Beach Police Department on Facebook

While under the care of a babysitter, the child found the bottle, drank from it, and spat it out.

He told the babysitter that the taste was unusual, and soon after, he began shivering, shaking, and sweating.

The babysitter noticed the child felt cold to the touch and had rashes forming on his skin.

When she saw him stiffen with his head tilted down, she immediately began performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).

The boy then vomited “black stuff” and displayed seizure-like symptoms.

Mother tests positive for methamphetamine twice

After being notified of her son’s condition, 37-year-old Opsincs allegedly waited an hour before calling 911, according to police.

At the hospital, officers discovered that the boy had healed bruises along his ribcage and a fresh bruise above his left eye.

Opsincs told investigators that her son had autism, required special care, and was never allowed to use the bathroom alone.

She also informed the emergency room (ER) doctor that two months earlier, the child had licked bleach, prompting her to contact poison control.

When asked about recreational drug use, she denied it.

However, after undergoing two field tests, she tested positive for methamphetamines.

Charged with manslaughter, release bond set at S$134,000

During a search of Opsincs’s apartment, police discovered six meth pipes, along with other drug paraphernalia and two plastic apple juice bottles.

Source: Riviera Beach Police Department on Facebook

Describing her apartment as “unkempt” and “deplorable”, investigators accused Opsincs of failing to provide her child with proper care, supervision, and essential services.

They stated that she knowingly left the child with someone who may not have been aware of his special care needs, despite previous incidents highlighting the necessity for such care.

“Her negligence exposed (the child) to dangerous drugs and an inhabitable environment that caused his death,” the court documents read.

Opsincs is facing a manslaughter charge and remains in custody at the Palm Beach County Jail.

A judge granted her release on bond, set at US$100,000 (S$134,000), on the condition that she refrain from contacting two witnesses.

She is also barred from speaking to anyone under 18, except her daughter.

Opsincs is due back in court on 22 April.

Also read: S’pore man sexually assaults 14-year-old thrice & lets her smoke meth, gets 5 years’ jail

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