A babysitter has pleaded guilty to giving an 8-month-old boy a fatal dose of Benadryl in order to make him sleep.
Lori Conley (43) has pleaded guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in a US court, after she gave 8-month-old Haddix Mulkey a lethal dose of Benadryl to get the baby boy to sleep, reports NBC4i.
Prosecutor Kara Keating told an Ohio court that Conley, who was babysitting eight children at the time, admitted to giving the infant two Benadryl tablets in May of last year.
The Franklin County courthouse heard that emergency services were called out to the babysitter’s home following a report of an unresponsive infant. Haddix Mulkey was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The case follows recent US Government warnings about the misuse of antihistamines, such as Benadryl, in order to make children sleep. A child fatality review panel released a statement advising that the ‘off-label’ use of such medications can result in acute diphenhydramine intoxication causing rapid heart rate, confusion, hallucinations, convulsions and death.
US polls revealed one in five mothers have misused antihistamines to ‘get through’ long car and plane journeys.
Haddix’s mother, Katie Mulkey, told the news station that she wants justice for her son:
“I want justice for my baby because this was something that was robbed from me. I’ll have to see my baby in a cemetery not in my arms. He is not down the street, but in a cemetery, and going through this is not something any mother should go through.”
Judge Julie Lynch will sentence Conley on September 5th, with the babysitter expected to face up to 17 years in prison.
