KANAWHA COUNTY, WV (RNN) – A West Virginia mother faces a child neglect charge after her 10-month-old son was hospitalized and tested positive for ingesting methamphetamine, according to the sheriff's office.
A mother of three, 24-year-old Miranda Taylor was arrested Tuesday, the day after her mother called 911 to report seeing unusual behavior and symptoms in Taylor’s 10-month-old.
The child’s grandmother said the baby was incoherent and “acting funny.” She said he may have ingested drugs, claiming her daughter was a known drug user, WSAZ reports.
When paramedics responded to the Elkview, WV, home, Taylor wouldn’t let them in, according to WCHS and WVAH.
"She refused to allow medics into the house after the call to 911 was made, and deputies had to make entry into the house in order to medically treat the child," said Assistant Kanawha County Prosecutor Maryclaire Akers.
Authorities said the medics had to remove the baby from his mother’s arms in order to take him to the hospital.
At the hospital, the boy’s urine tested positive for the presence of meth.
Taylor was later arrested and charged with child neglect, resulting in injury, which is a felony. Her bond is set at $25,000.
The 10-month-old is still in the hospital.
Investigators and hospital staff say he is showing signs of being under the influence, including restlessness and reaching for non-existent objects, WSAZ reports.
Sheriff's Sgt. Brian Humphreys said it’s unknown how the 10-month-old ingested the drug, according to WCHS and WVAH.
"While we understand and are sympathetic that some people have developed addictions and those kind of things can wreck their lives and cause a lot of problems, it should not affect their children, and it certainly shouldn't affect them physically and medically like it did in this case. That's obviously something that we can't tolerate," Humphreys said.
Akers said when children are around drugs, as alleged in this case, it only takes a moment for them to ingest something dangerous.
"Everyone who is a parent, knows or has small children in their lives knows babies, small children can get into just about anything. You could be in another room, and a child could get into something that you thought they could never get into," she told WCHS and WVAH.
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