Maryland mother to serve just five years in prison for her two-month-old son’s fenantyl death

US
By James

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Maryland mother will serve just five years in prison for the fenantyl death of her two-month-old son after mixing the drug in the same bath as her baby’s bottles

  • Heather Marie Frazier sentenced to five years after the death of her two-month-old son
  • Jeremy Frazier received the same sentence, with five years of probation released.
  • Grayson Frazier died in 2020 from fentanyl poisoning in a basement
  • The parents had been mixing drugs in the same bathroom where they prepared the bottles.

By Madeleine Ross for Mailonline

Published: 08:51 GMT, December 23, 2022 | Updated: 09:20 GMT, December 23, 2022

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A Maryland mother who killed her two-month-old son with the dangerous addictive drug fentanyl has been sentenced to five years in prison.

Heather Marie Frazier, 35, was charged with manslaughter in the 2020 death of her son Grayson.

He will serve five years in prison with five years of probation released after pleading guilty in August.

Medical personnel were called to the residence in Walden Way, Maryland on July 3, 2020 after reports that the infant had gone into cardiac arrest.

Heather Marie Farzier will serve five years in prison and five years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to one count of manslaughter

Jeremy Whitney Frazier, 35, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March and was sentenced to five years in prison with five years of supervised probation following the death of his son.

Jeremy Whitney Frazier, 35, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March and was sentenced to five years in prison with five years of supervised probation following the death of his son.

Heather Marie Farzier will serve five years in prison and five years of supervised probation after pleading guilty to one count of manslaughter

Baby Grayson was later pronounced dead at Frederick Health Hospital.

After a full autopsy of the boy’s body, the cause of death was determined to be fentanyl poisoning and the death was ruled a homicide.

Frederick County investigators decided that Grayson’s parents, Heather and Jeremy Frazier, 34, were suspects in the baby’s death.

Interviews with the suspects and family members revealed that the couple had been mixing the deadly drug in the same bathroom where they were preparing their son’s bottles.

“This is a tragic case where drug addiction has destroyed a precious young life and parents face the consequences of their reckless actions,” State Attorney Charlie Smith said of the case.

Jeremy Whitney Frazier, 35, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in March and was sentenced to five years in prison with five years of supervised probation released.

What is fentanyl and why is it so dangerous?

Fentanyl was originally developed in Belgium in the 1950s to help cancer patients manage pain.

Given its extreme potency, it has become popular with recreational drug users.

Overdose deaths linked to synthetic opioids like fentanyl rose from nearly 10,000 in 2015 to nearly 20,000 in 2016, surpassing common opioid painkillers and heroin for the first time.

And drug overdoses killed more than 72,000 people in the US in 2017, a record propelled by fentanyl.

It is often added to heroin because it creates the same high as the drug, with biologically identical effects. But it can be up to 50 times more potent than heroin, according to US officials.

In the United States, fentanyl is classified as a schedule II drug, indicating that it has a high potential for abuse and can create psychological and physical dependence.

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