Missouri teen dies after mother allegedly gave him deadly fentanyl pill to treat toothache: ‘This shouldn’t have happened’

A Missouri mother has been charged with the death of her teenage daughter after she allegedly administered a lethal dose of fentanyl after complaining of a toothache.

St. Prosecutors in St. Louis charged Jacquelyn Powers on Thursday with first-degree endangering the welfare of a child resulting in the death of a child. court documents.

Powers’ 14-year-old daughter died Oct. 3 in St. He had complained of a toothache at their home in Overland, 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 child a pill she found in her drawer.

The teen was found dead about 10 hours after taking the pill, according to the Overland Police Department.

The mother told police she thought she gave her daughter oxycodone, which she said was due to a previous surgery. According to Fox 2 Now.

However, an autopsy revealed that the child died of a fentanyl overdose and tested negative for the presence of oxycodone.

Powers told investigators the reason he took fentanyl pills was because he traded some of his oxycodone with his mother to “protect” her from dangerous pills he allegedly bought on the street.

Police said Powers then put those pills in her drawer and eventually gave them to her daughter.

Powers “admitted to giving the victim what he believed to be prescription painkillers and that other street drugs were found throughout the home along with other young children,” Powers said. guarantee From the 21st Judicial District Court in St. Louis County.

“This is tragic,” Overland Police Department Capt. Jim Morgan said. Fox 2 Now.

“This shouldn’t happen.”

Powers was arrested and seen being led away in handcuffs from his home in Overland on Friday, according to media reports.

He was held in St. Louis on a $150,000 bail. He is being held in the St. Louis County jail.

Powers is expected to appear in court Nov. 19 for a bond reduction hearing.

His preliminary hearing will be held on December 11.

“Endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree resulting in his or her death” is considered a class A crime.

This is the most serious charge under the law.

This carries the harshest possible penalties as it refers to a situation in which the welfare of a child is so seriously endangered that it leads to his or her death.

Under state law, Powers could face life in prison with the possibility of parole if convicted.