Bucks Co Mom Killed Infant Son With Tainted Breast Milk: DA

A Bucks County mother who was addicted to drugs fed her newborn baby tainted breast milk, which resulted in his death in April, authorities with the Bucks County District Attorney’s office said.

Samantha Whitney Jones, 30, of New Britain Township, is charged with criminal homicide in connection with the April 2 death of her infant son, the DA’s office announced Friday.

Her bail has been set at $3 million after an autopsy showed her 11-week-old son died from methadone, amphetamine, and methamphetamine that was transmitted through her breast milk, the District Attorney said. His cause of death was listed as homicide due to ingesting the fatal combination of drugs, authorities said.

Jones, who also has a 2-year-old son, told police that she had been prescribed methadone because of an addiction to painkillers, that she had taken it during her pregnancy, and that she was taking it at the time of the baby’s death.

According to the District Attorney, the child’s father told police that he found Jones and the baby in separate bedrooms at about 6 a.m. on April 2. About three hours before that, around 3 a.m., Jones told police she had breastfed him.

The baby was crying, and Jones asked her husband to prepare a bottle of formula for him, a probable cause affidavit said.

She fed the baby the formula and put him in a bassinet at about 6:30, and fell asleep, authorities said. An hour later, she found the infant pale, with bloody mucous coming from his nose, the affidavit said.

Jones’ mother, who was at the house at the time, performed CPR on the baby after they called 911.

When New Britain Township police arrived at 7:38 a.m., they found the baby in cardiac arrest. The child was taken by ambulance to Doylestown Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Jones said she had been primarily breastfeeding the baby, but had switched to formula three days earlier, saying the infant wasn’t getting enough milk from breastfeeding, according to the affidavit.

“Because Jones currently faces a general homicide charge and the investigation is ongoing, it is possible she could face murder charges that carry a mandatory life sentence,” information from the Bucks County District Attorney’s office said.

Her other son is currently in the primary custody of his father, her lawyer said.

A preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for July 23.

The case is being investigated by the New Britain Township Police Department and the Bucks County Detectives.