Grandmother indicted in 5-year-old boy's fatal overdose in Dayton
Jul. 15—A woman is facing charges in connection to the March overdose death of her 5-year-old grandson at a Dayton apartment.
Stephanie Renee Shanks, 58, was indicted Monday for involuntary manslaughter, endangering children and possession of cocaine plus two misdemeanor endangering children counts, according to Montgomery County Common Pleas Court records.
She is scheduled to be arraigned July 30. She was arrested and booked Monday into the Montgomery County Jail.
Shanks called 911 around 10:10 a.m. March 30 to report her grandson was cold and unresponsive at an apartment in the first block of Benning Place, Montgomery County Prosecutor Mat Heck Jr. said during a Monday media briefing.
Medics from the Dayton Fire Department pronounced 5-year-old Charles Brown dead at the scene.
Shanks told police she babysat Brown, his twin sister and a 3-year-old boy on the weekend while their mother worked, Heck said.
Montgomery County Coroner Dr. Kent Harshbarger ruled the boy's death an accident due to fentanyl, fluorofentanyl and xylazine intoxication, according to a postmortem examination.
Investigators found straws with drug residue and drug powder in the apartment, Heck said. Lab testing determined the drugs were cocaine, fentanyl, fluorofentanyl and xylazine.
Brown tested positive for 11 milliliters of fentanyl, fewer than 1 milliliter of fluorofentanyl, 5.3 milliliters of norfentanyl and 13 milliliters of xylazine.
"The overdose of Charles Brown is simply tragic, senseless and avoidable," Heck said. "It simply should have never happened."
The prosecutor noted during Child Abuse Prevention Month in April he highlighted the importance of storing firearms safely and away from children.
"This is just as bad," he said. "... Keep drugs away from children. It doesn't make any sense — whether they are prescription drugs or illegal drugs."
Heck also said this should be a wakeup call that as a community people need to look out for each other.
"If we know someone is on drugs or taking illegal drugs, then we've got to make sure that they're not caring for young children," he said.
If convicted, Heck said Shanks faces 11-plus years in prison.
