A Missouri mother has been charged with the death of her teen daughter, who she allegedly gave a lethal dose of fentanyl to after she complained of a toothache.
Prosecutors in St. Louis charged Jacquelyn Powers with endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree, resulting in the death of a child, on Thursday, according to court documents.
Powers’ 14-year-old daughter had complained that she was suffering from a toothache on Oct. 3 at their Overland home — a suburb of St. Louis.
The mother first tried giving her child Tylenol for the pain, but when that didn’t work, she allegedly gave the teen a pill she found in her drawer.
Around 10 hours after the teen took the pill, she was found dead, according to the Overland Police Department.
The mother told police that she thought she had given her daughter oxycodone, which she said she had from a previous surgery, according to Fox 2 Now.
However, an autopsy revealed that the child had died from a fentanyl overdose and tested negative for the presence of oxycodone.
Powers told investigators the reason she had the fentanyl pills was because she traded some of her oxycodone with her mother to “protect” her from dangerous pills she was allegedly buying on the street.
Police said Powers then placed those pills in her drawer, which she ended up giving her daughter.
Powers “admitted to giving the victim what she believed to be a prescription pain pill and other street drugs were located inside the home with other minor children,” according to a warrant from the 21st Judicial Circuit Court in St. Louis County.
“This is tragic,” Overland Police Department Capt. Jim Morgan said, according to Fox 2 Now.
“This shouldn’t happen.”
Powers has been arrested and was seen being led from her Overland home in handcuffs on Friday, according to the outlet.
She is being held on a $150,000 bond at the St. Louis County jail.
Powers is expected back in court on Nov. 19 for a bond reduction hearing.
Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11.
“Endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree, resulting in the death of a child” is considered a Class A felony.
It is the most severe charge under this statute.
It carries the most severe potential penalties, as it signifies a situation where a child’s welfare was so severely compromised that it led to their death.
If found guilty, Powers could face up to a life sentence with the possibility of parole, according to state law.
