Pregnant Woman Charged with Death of Her One-Year-Old Son
(STMW) — A pregnant woman in Chicago has been charged with giving her one-year-old son a fatal dose of morphine last November at their home, according to CBS Chicago.
Morgan Ellis, 24, was charged with one felony count of child endangerment leading to death, according to Chicago Police.
Ellis lived with her uncle and aunt, according to Cook County prosecutors and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.
She was the primary caregiver for her son.
Ellis woke up on Nov. 18, 2015, and found her son unresponsive in the bed next to her, according to police. The one-year-old died at the hospital the next day.
After a toxicology report was done, she admitted to giving her son “Good Sleep,” an herbal adult sleep aid, with his juice the night before his death and once earlier in the week, prosecutors said.
Test results revealed that Makhari’s cause of death was morphine toxicity, but his manner of death (homicide or accident) remains undetermined, according to the medical examiner’s office.
The morphine and the sleep aid were both kept in the refrigerator. Prosecutors said the two had “distinctively different in appearance."
Ellis’ aunt suffers from multiple medical conditions requiring prescription medications, including morphine, prosecutors said. Liquid morphine was stored in the refrigerator and morphine pills were stored on a dresser in the aunt’s bedroom.
Prosecutors said the morphine was kept out of the baby’s reach and both the liquid and pill containers had safety locks.
She is currently pregnant.
