Mother charged with manslaughter after 10-year-old girl dies from ingesting methadone
Faith Carlson was charged with second-degree manslaughter in connection to her daughter's death,. (Hennepin County Jail)
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - A Minneapolis mother has been charged after her 10-year-old daughter died from allegedly ingesting her mother's methadone when she was taking medicine for a cough.
Faith Carlson, 42, is charged with second-degree manslaughter. She faces up to 10 years in prison and $20,000 fine.
According to the charges, on November 21, Minneapolis police responded to Hennepin County Medical Center following the death of a 10-year-old girl, who had died after showing overdose symptoms. A doctor told police the child had methadone in her system. Methadone can cause a person to stop breathing, which had happened to the girl. The medical examiner's office later confirmed the child died from methadone toxicity.
In an interview with police, Carlson was "distraught" and kept saying it was "her fault," the complaint states.
Carlson told police she has been going to a clinic for methadone for the past two years. Methadone can be used to treat severe pain or narcotic addiction. Carlson told police she normally keeps her methadone in a lock box, but sometimes forgets to lock it up.
Carlson told police the girl had a strong cough, so she poured cough syrup into a dosage cup and left it on the table for her daughter to take. She did not watch her daughter take the medicine, but when she returned to the room the cup was empty. Carlson explained she gave her daughter the medicine about 30 minutes after she had taken some methadone.
About an hour after taking the medicine, her daughter started to throw up - a symptom she had not experienced earlier in the day. During the night, Carlson checked on her daughter and noticed she was not breathing. Paramedics took the girl to the hospital, where she passed away.
Carlson told police when the medics arrived, she noticed her methadone bottle was on the ground and put the bottle back in her lock box.
While executing a search warrant on the home, police found six methadone bottles in Carlson's lock box, one of which did not have the childproof cap secured.
Carlson is in custody at the Hennepin County Jail.