An Alexandria woman faces child abuse and drug possession charges after a 6-month-old male infant she was babysitting suffered an overdose, according to the Alexandria Police Department.
The child’s mother told police that she’s a single mother living in Maryland, and regularly dropped off her child with her cousin in Alexandria before going to work in D.C. Around 7:45 a.m. on Friday, March 6, she said she dropped the child off at her cousin’s condominium in the 200 block of Ellsworth Street in the Taylor Run neighborhood.
The mother got a video call from her cousin around 10:30 a.m. saying the infant’s lips were turning blue, that he had no color in his face and that he was breathing abnormally. The child’s mother told her cousin to call 911, according to a recently released APD search warrant affidavit.
“When Alexandria Fire Department Medic 206 began life saving measures, a small plastic baggie containing a white substance was found in the child’s mouth,” APD said in the search warrant affidavit. “Two doses of Narcan were administered before transporting [the victim] to Inova Fairfax Children’s Hospital.”
The child later tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl.
The suspect told police that the child was having trouble breathing, but that she had to take her son to school. She said that she took the infant along around 8:10 a.m., returned home at 10 a.m. and then called 911.
The suspect was arrested on July 16 and charged with child abuse, a Class 6 felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $2,500 fine, and possession of Schedule I or II drugs, a Class 5 felony punishable by one to 10 years in prison and a $2,500 fine. She has a four-day jury trial scheduled to start on March 29, 2027.
