Samantha Jones said she had been taking methadone which showed up in her breast milk
NEW BRITAIN TOWNSHIP, Pennsylvania — A drug-addicted mom was charged with killing her 11-week-old baby after it died from drugs it was exposed to through breast feeding, prosecutors said.
Samantha Whitney Jones, 30, was held on $3 million bond in the April 2 death of her infant son at home, the Bucks County District Attorney’s office said.
An autopsy determined the child had died from exposure to a combination of methadone, amphetamine and methamphetamine that had been transmitted through his mother’s milk.
Jones told cops she had been prescribed methadone because of an addiction to painkillers. She said that she had taken it during her pregnancy and that she was taking it at the time of the baby’s death.
While she said she had been primarily breastfeeding the baby, she switched to formula three days before the child’s death, saying the infant wasn’t getting enough milk from her.
Jones admitted to cops that she breastfed the baby at 3 a.m. the morning he died because she was too tired to go downstairs and prepare a bottle of formula.
Her attorney had argued for minimal bail at her arraignment, citing the killing was not intentional.
Prosecutors say Jones could face up to life in prison.
