VA Grandmother gave infant granddaughter adult prescription medication and killed her

Woman pleads guilty to homicide after adding adult prescription medicine to infant granddaughter’s bottle

Alvetta Juanita Haskins/Norfolk Sheriff’s Office

Alvetta Juanita Haskins,51, pleaded guilty to felony homicide after she fed her 3-month-old granddaughter adult prescription medicine, causing her death.

Haskins was babysitting her grandchildren. She added her prescription antipsychotic medication as well as cough syrup to the 3-month-old baby girl’s bottle, then fed it to her. That night, Haskins called 911 to report that the baby was unresponsive.

Paramedics took the infant to the Children’s Hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.

An autopsy determined the baby’s cause of death was an ***overdose of the prescription medication Seroquel, which is used to treat mood disorders. Haskins had a prescription for that medication, and later admitted to police that she put some of it in the baby’s bottle and had also given the baby over-the-counter cold remedies*** on the night of her death.

“At some point, Ms. Haskins added her prescription antipsychotic medication as well as cough syrup into her granddaughter’s baby bottle and fed it to her,” the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office wrote in a press release last year. “While it remains unclear why she did so, it appears that she did so to quiet the baby.”

Haskins, personally and through her attorney, has said she did not remember the medication at first and that it was an accident.

“I wish I could take it all back but I can’t,” the convicted woman told the courtroom through tears on Friday. “That was my family, my blood. I didn’t know it was the wrong medication till the detective and my daughter told me so.”

During the sentencing hearing, Haskins elaborated before the court — saying she was arguing with her boyfriend while she was administering the medications on the night in question. She also said she keeps all her prescriptions in the same bottle.

On Friday, Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Jamilah LeCruise sentenced the defendant to 30 years — with 17 years and three months suspended; in total, she will spend at least 12 years and nine months in prison.

Concerns were expressed about her criminal history, as well. Court records show Haskins has been charged with assault on a family member in multiple separate cases in the past.

Haskins entered an agreement to plead guilty to an amended charge of ***felony homicide ***and face an active sentence not to exceed the midpoint of her state sentencing guidelines.

Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Haskins’s plea agreement and found her guilty of the amended charge.

“Ms. Haskins did something incredibly dangerous: give antipsychotic medication to a three-month-old baby.

Babies are not adults, and they should never be given prescription medication except by a doctor’s order,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi.

“Had her granddaughter lived, the proper charge against Ms. Haskins would have been felony child neglect, but since her granddaughter died, the proper charge is felony homicide.

Anyone who takes responsibility for watching children, especially babies, must do so with care and must face the consequences if they engage in dangerous behavior such as this.”

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