14 years in prison: that’s the sentence a 36-year-old mother from Indiana got after co-sleeping with her infant daughter, 4-month-old Celina, under the influence of drugs, resulting in the child’s passing.

Tricia Cavanaugh pleaded guilty to neglect of a dependent resulting in serious bodily injury, which is classified as a Level 3 felony.

The tragic incident occurred on June 9, 2016, when officers responded to a call at Cavanaugh’s home on Glenwood Avenue in Muncie, Indiana. They found her crying hysterically and attempting to perform CPR on her unconscious child.

Toxicology tests went on to reveal that the mother was intoxicated with a mix of Hydrocodone and Nordiazepam, a dangerous combination that causes severe sedation.

A 34-year-old mother got a 14-year sentence for suffocating her baby daughter to death while co-sleeping. She was under the influence of powerful sedatives, documents reveal

Image credits: Delaware County Prosecutor’s office

Court documents detailed how, when law enforcement arrived, they found Cavanaugh intoxicated at her house, showing signs such as slurred speech, unsteady balance, and poor manual dexterity.

Cavanaugh admitted to police that she fell asleep with her baby after breastfeeding, and when she awoke, she found 4-month-old Celina lying face down on the bed. This confession came despite multiple warnings from child services and hospital staff about the dangers of co-sleeping for someone with her substance abuse history.

Image credits: Google Maps

The Department of Child Services (DCS) had previously investigated the mother for testing positive for several drugs, including Xanax, marijuana, and cocaine, which led them to forbid her from sharing a bed with her infant.

Her system had an above-prescription dosage of Hydrocodone, a highly addictive opioid painkiller that, according to results from the 2022 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, had an estimated 6.1 million people contract an opioid disorder during that year.

Investigators also found multiple bottles of other prescription drugs, such as Gabapentin, an anticonvulsant, and Diazepam, a sedative, during their search.

Baby Celina was born with opioid withdrawal symptoms due to her mother’s long history of substance abuse, which didn’t stop even after she was born

Image credits: Bruno Guerrero / Unsplash (Not the actual photo)

Cavanaugh’s history with addiction affected her child even before she was born, as her drug usage was constant throughout her pregnancy. This led Celina to come into this world already experiencing neonatal drug withdrawal, which forced her to spend time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

While the autopsy was unable to determine the exact cause of death, doctors concluded that her mother’s continued inability to follow her ban on co-sleeping was the main contributing factor.

Image credits: Freepik (Not the actual photo)

“It was a needless death,” stated Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman, emphasizing the preventable nature of the tragedy and stressing the importance of following what he called the “ABC of safe sleep”—babies should sleep Alone, on their Backs, and in a safe Crib.

In Hoffmann’s opinion, co-sleeping, especially when parents are under the influence of drugs or alcohol, constitutes child neglect.

Experts warn that a mixture of opioids and benzodiazepines, the exact combination Cavanaugh was taking, causes a 10-times increase in the likelihood of overdose

Image credits: rawpixel.com / Freepik (Not the actual photo)

The National Institute on Drug Abuse published an article in 2022 about the dangers of combining Benzodiazepines, a family of central nervous system depressants, with opioids. The resulting mix caused an estimated 14% of all overdose deaths involving these substances in 2021.

“Every day, approximately 220 Americans die after overdosing on opioids,” the article read. 

“Combining opioids and benzodiazepines can increase risk of overdose because both types of drugs can cause sedation and suppress breathing.”

The mix can be so lethal that a study in North Carolina found that the death rate among patients receiving both types of medications was 10 times higher than those who were only prescribed opioids.

A similar study found that patients with psychological disorders, such as veterans suffering from PTSD and drug addicts, were particularly vulnerable to the combination, reporting an increased risk of dose-dependent fatalities.

Netizens lamented the child’s passing, but the severity of the mother’s sentence caused debate among readers, with some justifying it and others believing it to be too extreme

Image credits: RDNE Stock project / Pexels (Not the actual photo)

“Seems a little harsh. 14 years for something that seems like an accident even if she was remorseful?” one wrote, explaining how the already tragic incident was punishment enough for the mother.

“I know women who have been drunk and rolled over on their infant suffocating them and never got close to this,” said another, surprised. “This is so sad for that baby. No child deserves this.”

Others, however, believed the sentence to be too light, writing, “She should be doing life without parole.”

“The baby should have never been given back to her,” wrote another, pointing out how Cavanaugh’s long history of drug abuse made it impossible for her to be a good mother.

Netizens debated the severity of the sentence, with some believing it was too light and others thinking that it was too harsh

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