A Georgia woman has been arrested and charged with second-degree murder and child cruelty after investigators found she allowed her 21-month-old son to consume cocaine and fentanyl.
According to the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, Gloria Neshee Stringer, 31, was present at the residence where deputies were called to respond to a report of the cardiac arrest of her son Jamari Stringer.
Upon arrival, the victim was found unresponsive and rushed to a local hospital where doctors attempted to revive him. He was then taken to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta where the child was pronounced dead. The toddler’s body was then taken to the Dekalb County Medical Examiner’s Office where an autopsy revealed that the child was killed, according to the medical examiner. His death has been ruled a homicide.
The Gwinnett County Police Department Community Response Team arrested Stringer and detained her at the Hall County Jail. The Hall County Department of Family and Children Services is working with authorities to conduct an investigation.
When asked how much cocaine and fentanyl was found in the child’s system at the time of his death and how he gained access to both drugs, the Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman B.J. Williams said “We can’t be more specific on either of those questions. The investigation is ongoing and that information can’t be released right now.”
This story is developing.
According to data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS), “51 states reported a total of 1,809 fatalities due to child neglect or abuse.
Furthermore, “child fatalities in 2019 involved children younger than three years, and children younger than one year accounted for 45.4 percent of all fatalities. Young children are the most vulnerable for many reasons, including their dependency, small size, and inability to defend themselves.”
To learn more about child abuse and neglect, prevention tools and other ways to help, visit the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) here.
