Charges amended in death penalty case
By KRISTIE LINDEN
klinden@yourmvi.com
A Coal Center mother who faces the death penalty for allegedly killing her infant son is now accused of drugging the child.
Symantha Sullivan, 25, of Grange Road was originally accused of injuring her 3-month-old son Isaiah Sullivan so badly that he died about six weeks later while on life support in an intensive care unit.
First Assistant District Attorney Jason Walsh filed a motion Thursday to amend information in the criminal complaint that supports the two counts each of homicide, aggravated assault-attempt to cause serious bodily injury with extreme indifference, aggravated assault of a victim younger than 6, endangering the welfare of children, simple assault, recklessly endangering the welfare of another person and harassment.
Walsh said in his motion that lab reports have revealed that ethanol/ethyl alcohol was found in the baby formula found and seized by the state police as evidence in the case.
“The Commonwealth seeks to amend the information to include additional language concerning specifics of the physical abuse alleged to have been committed by the defendant,” the motion states. “More specifically, that the defendant was poisoning, sedating and/or drugging the victim with ethanol/ethyl alcohol in his bottle.”
Walsh wrote that Sullivan was put on notice during the discovery phase of the case that witnesses had come forward to claim that she used Nyquil and melatonin to subdue the baby and the prosecution will show that claim to be confirmed by the lab reports “indicating there was significant ethanol found in the victim’s formula.”
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