No prison time for mother who killed her 11-week-old baby by feeding him drug-laced breast milk

A Pennsylvania mother won't go to prison for the death of her baby who died after she fed him drug-laced breast milk.

A judge sentenced Samantha Jones to three years' probation and 100 hours of community service for the death of her 11-week old son who died last year, KYW-TV reported.

"I never wanted this to happen. I loved my little boy more than anything," Jones said in court, according to the news outlet. "I loved him, and I have to live with this every day."

The 31-year-old Bucks County woman pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter after an autopsy found the infant died from a lethal combination of methadone, amphetamine, and methamphetamine in April 2018.

What happened?

The child's father told police that he found Jones and their son in separate bedrooms at about 6 a.m. on April 2, 2018, according to KYW.

At about 3 a.m., Jones said the baby woke up crying so she got up and nursed him.

The woman said she had recently switched the baby to formula but she was too tired to make a bottle that morning.

A few hours later, the baby was found pale and had a bloody mucous coming from his nose.

Jones said that her doctor had prescribed methadone for her pain killer addiction, according to the arrest affidavit. Methadone, when taken alone, holds minimal risks to breast-fed infants, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

First-responders transported the baby to a hospital where he died.