PICKAWAY COUNTY, Ohio — On January 16, the Circleville Police Department responded to Berger Hospital after a child was brought into the Emergency Room, unresponsive, and not breathing.
A brief time later, reports say, the child’s sibling was also brought to the hospital. Both children, officials say, were suffering from a drug overdose. The 20-month-old toddler would later be pronounced dead. The sibling, a three-year-old, would later recover.
Investigators say the child died from a fentanyl overdose. The parents would later admit to trafficking narcotics. The two would deny knowledge of the children ingesting the dangerous synthetic opioid.
Both would later be indicted on involuntary manslaughter charges. The child’s mother, Brianna Roush, pled guilty and was sentenced to 19 to 24 ½ years in prison.
Nicholas Lee would also plead guilty and received the same prison sentence as Roush.
In Ross County, a Chillicothe woman was charged with the overdose death of her 1-year-old child. Amanda Lowery, reports say, failed to call 9-1-1 after discovering her child had ingested suboxone. Suboxone is a medication used in the treatment of opioid addiction. Her trial is set for October.