Toxicology tests find cocaine in South Carolina infant’s feeding bottles, body
07/06/2021 8:09 pm PDT
PROSPERITY, S.C. (TCD) --
The parents of a 4-month-old infant were arrested on June 23, weeks after the cocaine-overdose death of their child in May.
Paramedics responded to a report of an unresponsive infant at a residence on Duckbill Road in Prosperity on May 2, and transported the child to Newberry Hospital, where the child was pronounced dead, the Newberry County Sheriff’s Office said.
Toxicology tests showed “measurable amounts” of cocaine in the baby’s body, and cocaine in the child’s feeding bottles, the sheriff’s office said.
The Newberry County Coroner ruled the infant’s manner of death as homicide.
“Sudden unexpected infant death associated with recent cocaine ingestion,” the forensic pathologist stated.
The child’s parents -- identified as Mary Bedenbaugh, 17, and Brady Wearn, 18 -- agreed to drug screens, testing positive for marijuana, cocaine and fentanyl, according to the sheriff’s office.
Bedenbaugh and Wearn were both arrested on June 23 and charged with homicide by child abuse and unlawful conduct toward a child. They were held without bond at the Newberry County Detention Center.
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