ORCHARD BEACH, Md. — A judge has denied bail for the two women charged in connection with the state's youngest fatal overdose victim.
A mother and grandmother are facing a slew of charges in the overdose death of nine-month-old Niyear Taylor.
Anne Arundel County Police and Fire were first called to a home in the 7900 block Chesapeake Drive in Curtis Bay on the morning of July 27, after Niyear was found unresponsive.
Niyear was taken to Baltimore Washington Medical Center and pronounced dead less than an hour later.
Investigators learned that Niyear had gone to bed with his mother and grandmother around 2 a.m., but had been wheezing beforehand.
By 9:15 a.m., the mother, Alexus Lorraine Taylor, 17, and grandmother, Laurie Ann Taylor, 43, found Niyear unresponsive and called 911.
An autopsy and toxicology report found fentanyl and morphine in Niyear's blood, liver, and stomach contents, and showed that he'd ingested heroin and fentanyl. The Medical Examiner ruled his death a homicide by fentanyl and heroin intoxication with despropionyl fentanyl use.
On August 14, detectives searched the Taylor home and found empty capsules with traces of powder in every single room of the house. By the time they were finished, investigators recovered over 100 heroin and fentanyl gel caps including in Niyear's diaper bag.
The day before Niyear's death, Laurie told detectives she had drove her two daughters and the baby to Baltimore to buy four capsules of Heroin. When they got home, a capsule was missing, so they drove back to Baltimore City to buy more.
It was around 1 a.m. the next morning, when they returned home from their second trip and noticed Niyear breathing oddly. Laurie and Alexus had wondered if Niyear had swallowed the missing heroin capsule, but decided to take a “wait and see” approach. Within hours Niyear was found unresponsive.
On December 5, after several months of investigation, Laurie and Alexus were arrested at their home and each charged with First Degree Child Abuse resulting in death, Second Degree Child Abuse, Manslaughter and Reckless Endangerment. Laurie Ann also faces two additional counts of Reckless Endangerment for taking her daughters to buy drugs.
Since April 2017, a pilot program called “Safe Stations”, has been available for the growing opioid epidemic. It allows those with substance disorders, who are looking for treatment, to walk into a police or fire station and request assistance with no fear of legal ramifications.
Once at the station, the individual will be given a medical assessment. If they don't need immediate medical attention, a Crisis Response Team is contacted to provide further access to the user for treatment and follow-up care. If immediate medical attention is required, they are taken to an emergency room and a Mobile Crisis Team will meet them at the hospital. This year,1007 people have used the program to get treatment for their opioid addictions.
