3-Month-Old Baby Drugged By Mother To Make Child Sleep

A woman in New York has pleaded not guilty after being accused of drugging her 3-month-old baby boy to make the child sleep. According to reports, Magan Michelle McDermott, 34, from the city of Albany, is currently in Benton County Jail awaiting trial for allegedly giving methadone—which is used to treat drug addiction— to the child.

The Corvallis Gazette-Times newspaper reported Tuesday that the infant is believed to have stopped breathing for up to 14 minutes after being drugged. Police were called to Orchard Heights Avenue in North Albany on Nov. 24 to respond to an infant who was unconscious. McDermott is charged with causing another person to ingest a controlled substance, unlawful delivery of methadone, first-degree criminal mistreatment and third-degree assault, all felonies.

After medics arrived at the scene, they resuscitate him with an anti-overdose drug. He woke and started crying.

According to court documents filed in the case, the child was in his father’s custody and was brought to McDermott’s sister’s house so he could spend time with his mother. According to the affidavit, McDermott told her sister in a text message that she gave the child methadone to help him sleep.

The Corvallis Gazette-Times reported that McDermott’s sister told law enforcement she woke to someone screaming. When she came to the living room, she saw the child reportedly stopped breathing and his father was attempting to perform CPR.

McDermott reportedly left the residence before police arrived at the scene. She was later arrested in the afternoon and her bond was listed as $320,000.

McDermott is set to appear in court for her trial on Jan. 8, local media reported Tuesday.

Earlier this year, reports surfaced about a Pennsylvania mother who killed her 11-week-old son by breastfeeding while using drugs. According to the criminal complaint, the baby died from ingesting a "combination of fatal drugs through breast milk." Samantha Jones, 30, was initially held on $3 million bail, but it was reduced on July 20 to 10 percent of $500,000 and she posted that amount the same day, records show.