🔺 NJ mom admits to role in young son’s drug overdose death
🔺 The toddler and his sibling had heroin and fentanyl left within reach, police found
🔺 Pediatric deaths from fentanyl have surged similar to adult ODs, research shows
ASBURY PARK — A 26-year-old mother has pleaded guilty to a charge stemming from her toddler son’s drug overdose death.
Quanique Smith, of Asbury Park, was first arrested in January after the 2-year-old boy’s early morning death.
In March, Smith was indicted on an upgraded charge of aggravated manslaughter.
By pleading guilty to a second-degree count of aggravated manslaughter, Smith was expected to face a prison term of eight years, when sentenced on Sept. 7.
She would have to serve 85% of the sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
🔺 Heroin, fentanyl left in reach of two young children before NJ boy’s OD death
On Jan. 5, Asbury Park police responded to an apartment on the 100 block of Langford Street on a report of an unresponsive child.
The young boy was rushed to a local hospital and was pronounced dead shortly before 2 a.m.
Investigators found that heroin and fentanyl belonging to the mother had been left in the family’s home, within reach of the 2-year-old and his 5-year-old sibling.
NJ child drug overdose death Lacey
🔺 Similar tragedy leads to same charge against Lacey mom
In April, an Ocean County grand jury added an aggravated manslaughter charge against a 35-year-old mother whose toddler son died of drug exposure last fall.
Natalie Sabie, of Lacey, was also indicted on possession of fentanyl and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child, stemming from the September 2022 death of her 2-year-old boy.
NYC Pharmacies Begins Selling Opioid Overdose Antidote Naloxone Over The Counter
🔺 Wall toddler pulls through after drug OD, parents criminally charged
Also last fall, a Wall Township couple was arrested after their toddler daughter overdosed on suspected opioids in the family home.
That child survived. Her parents, Sharek White and Alexis Mistretta were each charged with second-degree endangering the welfare of a child.
Child fentanyl OD data (JAMA Pediatrics, via U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
🔺 Pediatric deaths from fentanyl have surged, similar to adult ODs, research shows
Pediatric deaths from fentanyl began to surge nationwide in 2013, according to research published this month by the medical journal JAMA Pediatrics.
“Mirroring trends seen among adults,” pediatric deaths involving fentanyl have seen a nearly six-fold increase among children younger than 5 years.
Fentanyl was involved in the U.S. drug deaths of 342 children 4 years and younger, over a more than 20-year span ending in 2021, according to the same research.
Child fentanyl OD data (JAMA Pediatrics, via U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Data from 1999 to 2021 showed that across age groups, annual deaths peaked in 2020 and 2021, suggesting that the COVID-19 pandemic made the public health crisis even worse.
For all ages, nearly 44% of deaths happened at home and at least 87.5% were unintentional, according to the same research.
Report a correction 👈 | 👉 Contact our newsroom
From coast to coast: The 20 best regional fast-food chains to try
Places in New Jersey where you can now carry a legal gun
New Jersey passed its own law in December, trying to ban legal guns from “sensitive places.”
A federal judge has found many of those spots to be legally protected on the grounds of armed self-defense, noting in her opinion, “Crowded locations are not sensitive places.”
Here’s the latest on what is legally allowed.
The 99 top paying jobs in New Jersey
How much do you make? These are the occupations in New Jersey with the highest median annual compensation. Source: Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2022
Top 20 highest average property tax bills in NJ for 2022
Based on the average residential property tax bill for each town in New Jersey in 2022, these are the 20 highest.
How much your school district gets under Murphy’s proposed 2024 budget
Gov. Phil Murphy’s porposed 2024 budget includes $1 billion in new spending for school funding including pre-K funding, pension and benefits, and an additional $832 million in K-12 aid, which is listed below by county and district.