Natalia Chi
A northeastern Indiana woman pleaded guilty last year to defying charges after her two children ingested fentanyl, her 2-year-old son died, and her older brother fell ill.
Fort Wayne’s Kiara A. Johnson, 23, pleaded guilty Wednesday to two counts of neglect of dependents. journal gazette report.
Johnson was arrested on Sept. 29 after police found her two-year-old son and then-three-year-old daughter lying in the bathtub under a running shower in her apartment, according to court records. Her son later died, but her daughter survived.
Johnson told police he was playing games on his cell phone with a bag of marijuana and fake Percocet pills nearby when the children started climbing onto the bed and told them to play in his room. .
Johnson realized he was out of his medicine and heard one of his children coughing.
She said she put the kids in the shower at her boyfriend’s suggestion. After the officers arrived, they pulled the children out of the bathtub, administered drugs to reverse the overdose, and started CPR.
Johnson told officers he bought them knowing they contained fentanyl, not percocet.
An autopsy of her son showed conditions commonly seen in overdose deaths, court records say.
Johnson’s sentencing is set for April 14th. Her plea bargain calls for 29 years in prison.
