Police: Nanticoke mom lied about 14-month-old cocaine overdose
By: Joe Holden
Updated: February 22, 2013
Nanticoke, Luzerne County- Police say Amber Morgan manufactured story to cover up what really happened to her 14-month-old son. Court papers show Morgan, for an unknown reason, left the boy on a bed in her Nanticoke residence. When she returned, she said her son began "acting funny."
Police say Morgan and her mother, Mary Jo Ryder, stalled in calling 9-1-1. Chief William Shultz said the situation quickly got out of hand. Morgan and Ryder, arrest papers show, mixed together a cocktail of apple juice and baking soda hoping that the baby would vomit. Shultz said they also gave the baby a bath to attempt to bring down a rising fever. They eventually called for help.
Once medics arrived, Morgan, it's alleged, said while she was out of the room, her baby had swallowed prescription pills Ryder commonly kept on a nightstand. Arrest papers show a host of medications, ranging from Ibuprofen, to blood pressure pills to anti-depressants, were claimed to have been ingested by the baby.
Once at the hospital, police said the baby underwent blood tests and toxicology screens. What those tests revealed, Shultz said was sickening.
"There were none of those drugs in her system. The only drug that came back was cocaine."
It isn't clear how much cocaine was ingested by the baby.
"No matter what it is, when the mother doesn't tell the truth to us, to help her own child, that is very disturbing," Shultz said. "The child could have died."
Police said the boy has recovered from the overdose. He spent a week at Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Danville.
Morgan was picked up on Friday during a Department of Children and Youth supervised visit with her son.
A judge set her bail at $75,000 cash on a single charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
Police said there is a possibility Mary Jo Ryder could also be charged.
Police say Morgan and her mother, Mary Jo Ryder, stalled in calling 9-1-1. Chief William Shultz said the situation quickly got out of hand. Morgan and Ryder, arrest papers show, mixed together a cocktail of apple juice and baking soda hoping that the baby would vomit. Shultz said they also gave the baby a bath to attempt to bring down a rising fever. They eventually called for help.
Once medics arrived, Morgan, it's alleged, said while she was out of the room, her baby had swallowed prescription pills Ryder commonly kept on a nightstand. Arrest papers show a host of medications, ranging from Ibuprofen, to blood pressure pills to anti-depressants, were claimed to have been ingested by the baby.
Once at the hospital, police said the baby underwent blood tests and toxicology screens. What those tests revealed, Shultz said was sickening.
"There were none of those drugs in her system. The only drug that came back was cocaine."
It isn't clear how much cocaine was ingested by the baby.
"No matter what it is, when the mother doesn't tell the truth to us, to help her own child, that is very disturbing," Shultz said. "The child could have died."
Police said the boy has recovered from the overdose. He spent a week at Janet Weis Children's Hospital in Danville.
Morgan was picked up on Friday during a Department of Children and Youth supervised visit with her son.
A judge set her bail at $75,000 cash on a single charge of endangering the welfare of a child.
Police said there is a possibility Mary Jo Ryder could also be charged.
