A Missouri woman has been charged with murder after giving her 14-year-old daughter a fentanyl pill to treat a toothache, which led to the teenager’s death.
Jacquelyn Powers, 35, was arrested last week in connection with the October 3 death of her daughter, as reported by Fox 2.
According to Overland Police, Powers gave her daughter a pill she found in a drawer. Ten hours later, the girl was found dead.
Powers told police she believed the pill was oxycodone from her own previous surgery, but an autopsy revealed the cause of death was a fentanyl overdose, with no oxycodone in her system.
Overland Police Department Captain Jim Morgan called the incident “tragic” and said, “This shouldn’t happen. She’s 14, she had a lot of years to look forward to.”
Powers admitted to trading some of her oxycodone with her mother for pills her mother had bought on the street, court documents revealed. She said she kept those pills in a drawer.
Powers has been charged with endangering the welfare of a child and felony child death. She is being held on a $150,000 bond, with her next court hearing scheduled for November 19.
In a similar case in California, a mother faces murder charges after her 3-year-old twins died from suspected fentanyl exposure.
Jestice James, 22, has been charged with two counts of murder and child abuse after her children, Josiah and Jestine, were found unresponsive at their home in Canoga Park on July 11. Despite efforts to revive them, Josiah died that night and Jestine passed away two days later.
