Asbury Park woman indicted in toddler's fatal overdose
FREEHOLD - An Asbury Park woman has been indicted in her toddler's fatal overdose earlier this year, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced Monday.
A Monmouth County grand jury returned a five-count indictment against Quanique Smith, 26, who is charged with first-degree aggravated manslaughter, two counts of second-degree endangering the welfare of a child, third-degree possession of a controlled dangerous substance and third-degree hindering apprehension, Santiago said.
Shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, January 5, Asbury Park Police responded to a report of an unresponsive child at an apartment on the 100 block of Langford Street, the announcement said. At the scene, they found the 2-year-old child
The child was taken to a local hospital and died shortly before 2 a.m., Santiago said.
An investigation found that heroin and fentanyl that belonged to Smith had been left in the family's home within reach of the 2-year-old and his 5-year-old sibling, the prosecutor said. The 2-year-old ingested the drugs, resulting in his death.
Smith was arrested later on the same day and taken to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution, said Santiago. If convicted of aggravated manslaughter, she could face up to 30 years in state prison with 85% of the sentence to be served before the possibility of parole under the provisions of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.
If convicted of the aggravated manslaughter charge, Smith could serve up to 30 years in state prison, according to Santiago. Convictions on second- and third-degree criminal charges are commonly punishable by terms of up to 10 and 5 years, respectively.
Santiago is urging anyone with information about this matter to contact prosecutor’s office Detective Stephen Cavendish at 800-533-7443 or Asbury Park Detective Anthony Houlis at 732-502-4582.
Jenna Calderón covers breaking news and cold cases in Monmouth and Ocean counties. Before coming to the Press, she covered The Queen City for Cincinnati Magazine in Ohio. Contact her at 330-590-3903; jcalderon@gannettnj.com
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Asbury Park woman indicted in toddler's fatal overdose
