Maryland mother has just served five years in prison over her two-month-old son’s fentanyl death after mixing the drug in the same bathroom as her baby’s bottles
- Heather Marie Frazier sentenced to five years in prison after death of 2-month-old son
- Jeremy Frazier received the same sentence with five years probation on release
- Grayson Frazier died of fentanyl poisoning in a basement apartment in 2020
- The parents had mixed drugs in the same bathroom where they prepared bottles
A Maryland mother who killed her two-month-old son with the dangerous drug fentanyl has been sentenced to five years in prison.
Heather Marie Frazier, 35, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter in the 2020 death of her son Grayson.
She will serve five years in prison with five years probation upon release after pleading guilty in August.
Medical personnel were called to the residence in Walden Way, Maryland, on July 3, 2020 after the child reportedly went into cardiac arrest.
Heather Marie Farzier will serve five years in prison and five years probation after pleading guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter
Baby Grayson was later pronounced dead at Frederick Health Hospital.
After a full autopsy of the child’s body, it was determined that the cause of death was fentanyl poisoning and the death was ruled a manslaughter.
Frederick County investigators ruled that Grayson’s parents, Heather and Jeremy Frazier, 34, were suspects in the child’s death.
Interviews with the suspects and family members revealed the couple had mixed the deadly drug in the same bathroom where they prepared their son’s bottles.
“This is a tragic case where drug addiction has devastated a precious young life and the parents are facing the consequences of their reckless actions,” prosecutor Charlie Smith said of the case.
Jeremy Whitney Frazier, 35, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in March and was sentenced to five years in prison with five years of supervised probation on release.
What is fentanyl and why is it so dangerous?
Fentanyl was originally developed in Belgium in the 1950s to help cancer patients manage pain.
Due to its extreme potency, it has become popular among recreational drug users.
Overdose deaths related to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl rose from nearly 10,000 in 2015 to nearly 20,000 in 2016, surpassing the number of mainstream opioid painkillers and heroin for the first time.
And drug overdoses killed more than 72,000 people in the US in 2017 – a record caused by fentanyl.
It’s often added to heroin because it produces the same high as the drug, with biologically identical effects. However, according to officials in the US, it can be up to 50 times more potent than heroin.
In America, fentanyl is classified as a Schedule II drug, suggesting it has a strong potential for abuse and can lead to psychological and physical dependence.