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Baby Dies of Methamphetamine Overdose from Mother's Breast Milk

A 25-year-old mother from Fayetteville, Georgia, was charged with murder on July 28 for her infant son’s death after the court received the baby’s autopsy results. The two-month-old baby was found to have died from massive methamphetamine intoxication that was transferred into his body through his mother’s breast milk.

Methamphetamine is a highly addictive central nervous system (CNS) stimulant and has long been classified as a Schedule II controlled substance under the U.S.’s Controlled Substances Act.

On the night of March 7, Kaisha Poulson woke up to find her baby son, Jack, unconscious and not breathing in their home on Bates Avenue in Fayetteville. The woman then ran into the street and began hysterically banging on her neighbors’ doors, begging for someone to call 911. Police were called to the home, but the baby was pronounced dead at the scene. The baby’s body was then transferred to the state medical examiner’s office for an autopsy. The case of the baby’s death remained open pending the autopsy and toxicology reports. Police suspected that the mother’s drug use while breastfeeding the infant had contributed to the baby’s death. Poulson was later arrested by police in June for possession of the drug gamma-hydroxybutrate (GHB) and morphine.

By the end of July, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation had completed the baby’s autopsy report and released the toxicology results. Tests showed that the baby was poisoned as a result of methamphetamine overdose. Investigators found Poulson to have been using methamphetamine during the time she was nursing her son, passing the substance into her baby’s system through her breast milk and leading to his death.

Poulson has been charged with murder for the baby’s death. Furthermore, Poulson has been charged for showing her 14-year-old relative how to use the drug oxycodone. After her court appearance on July 28, the judge ordered Poulson to be held without bail at the Fayette County Jail. In total, Poulson is charged with one count of felony murder, two counts of cruelty to children, and one count of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

Sources: MyFoxAtlanta.com, Doug Evans, Fayette Mom Charged in Infant's Death, July 29, 2010

WSBTV, 2-Month-Old Dies of Meth Intoxication; Mom Charged, July 29, 2010

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