WESTFIELD – The mother of a 1-year-old who was treated for a heroin overdose in March collapsed into sobs as she left the courtroom Thursday after Westfield District Judge William O’Grady released her on $5,000 personal surety.
Despite the seriousness of the charge of reckless endangerment to a child, O’Grady said the main thing is to “protect the victim and make sure the defendant appears in court,” so he declined the Commonwealth’s request for $10,000 cash bail after entering a not guilty plea on behalf of Shannon E. Lea.
Conditions of release include not leaving Massachusetts, refraining from abusing the victim, remaining drug free, having no contact with children under age 15 unless supervised by the Department of Child and Families.
The child, who turned one in March, has been in the custody of the DCF since a few days after Lea, 31, took him to Baystate Noble Hospital on March 25 for treatment of a heroin overdose. Lea also has other children in the custody of DCF.
Upon arrival at the hospital, “the victim was lethargic, not crying and could not hold his head up,” according to court records. Lea had told the nurse that the victim had been “playing with drugs and drug paraphernalia that he found on the floor,” according to court records.
The father of the baby, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that the baby may have choked on something. Lea first called her mother who came over, and they decided to take the baby to the hospital, he said.
“I think she overreacted,” the baby’s father said and then quickly added, “She did the right thing.”
Lea, who was protected by the 9-1-1 Good Samaritan Law, couldn’t be arrested or charged with any crime when she brought her son in for treatment, but police later conducted an investigation to see whether the one-year-old was at risk under Lea’s care.
On April 1, Westfield Det. James Renaudette went back to Baystate Noble and interviewed the nurse who had treated the baby. Allegedly she said, “the victim positively reacted to the Narcan within 10-15 seconds of it being administered,” according to court records.
“The nurse stated to me that this quick reaction is a typical reaction to Narcan when someone has overdosed. . . . I have observed Narcan work and it does typically work this quick,” Renaudette wrote in his report. “The nurse also stated to me that Narcan only works on opioid overdoses and would not work on something like Tylenol PM.”
The baby’s father said the child’s toxicology report came back as negative.
Shannon Lea, mother of a one-year-old heroin victim, stands for her arraignment in Westfield District Court Thursday with her attorney John Kavanagh (photo by Christine Charnosky).
During the hearing, Lea’s attorney, John Kavanagh, handed the judge the toxicology report and said, “Here is the toxicology sheet. The child had no–” and abruptly stopped speaking.
When questioned about this outside the courtroom, Kavanagh kept responding, “No comment. No comment.”
At the hospital on March 25, Lea signed a consent to search her apartment.
When officers entered her apartment, this is what they found:
“I was immediately hit with a strong odor of cat urine. . . . The overall appearance of the bedroom was disorderly and visibly dirty. In addition to the cat urine smell there was a strong odor of vomit.
“There were cloths spread all over. The rug was covered in debris. There were also small flies flying around the apartment. Along with the debris on the floor officers discovered empty heroin bags on the floor.
“On the dresser I discovered a prescription bottle with hundreds of rubber bands around it. . . . heroin users will save the rubber band from the bundles of heroin they buy. . . .
“In a dresser drawer I also found 11 syringes. . . . There was also a pellet air rifle leaning against the wall in the bedroom. This was not locked and easily accessible from the floor. . . .
“In the trash bag I discovered approximately 190 empty heroin bags. I also discovered the cap to a syringe, elastic bands, small straws cut at angles and bulk heroin packaging. This trash can was approximately 18″-24″ tall and was on the floor,” according to Renaudette’s report.
Assistant District Attorney Magali Montes read from this report during Lea’s arraignment.
Montes said that initially Lea blamed the drugs and drug paraphernalia on a friend of her fiancé who had been staying at their apartment.
After the hearing, the baby’s father said that Lea lied about being a heroin user because she was scared.
“It takes guts to admit you have a problem,” he added.
Kavanagh said his client has an intake on May 13 for a drug treatment program.
At one point Kavanagh said the defendant “has no record,” but later said, she has “other things on record–she has been on probation–and has dealt with them.”
“We are not belittling the allegations,” Kavanagh said, “but there is a lot of confusion” about what happened.
Montes said this is an ongoing investigation.
As Lea’s parents were waiting to pay their daughter’s $150 counsel fee in the Clerk’s Office, a loud verbal argument broke out between the parents and the baby’s father. A court officer had to step in to separate them.
Lea is due back in court on July 13 for a pretrial hearing.
Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at [email protected]
Follow her on Twitter @charnoskyWNG
