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Mother gets 35 years for death of infant

Friday, May 23, 2008


BEAUFORT — A 25-year-old mother has been sentenced to 35 years in prison after she was convicted of homicide by child abuse in the drug overdose death of her 15-month-old son.

The Beaufort Gazette reports that Paris Avery maintained her innocence before she was sentenced Thursday and said she loves all three of her children. A Beaufort County jury convicted Avery the day before.

Prosecutors say Avery's son had six times the expected dosage of a prescription antihistamine used to relieve itching in his system when he died in August 2006.







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Comments

This article has  12 comment(s)

Posted by Hey_U_Guys on May 23, 2008 at 7:28 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Wow. What a horrible person. That poor baby. I always give my son just under the recommended dose of any medicine. His zyrtec says 1/2 - 1 tsp but I give him right under 1/2. You have to be careful with kids and medicines. Hell, you have to be careful with medicines PERIOD.



Posted by SCgal on May 23, 2008 at 7:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Thh real question~ did the mother not know any better, was this a freak accident in that she mismeasured, or did she do this on purpose~

Sad to think if she is just not educated and she gets sent for 35 yrs for not understanding infants and medication doses~~



Posted by Tammie on May 23, 2008 at 8:03 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I am about to be a new mother so I am cautious with everything I do and everything I take. If it really was a freak accident, I feel bad for her. If not, she should have gotten more than 35 years because that baby had more than 35 years of life left in him.



Posted by SCgal on May 23, 2008 at 8:15 a.m. (Suggest removal)

How old are the other 2 children~ any previous abuse of those children?

We need more details/facts~



Posted by RTC on May 23, 2008 at 8:21 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I have unfortunately heard of people giving their kids just a little over the recommended dosage of an antihistamine to try to make the kids sleep longer.
I think this is not only cruel, but totally selfish and stupid. I'm not sure why this mother gave her child so much, but she certainly went way over the top.
This had to be a deliberate act, because how could anyone be so ignorant to accidently give 6 times the normal amount.



Posted by SCgal on May 23, 2008 at 8:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)

I have read that some don't know 1 tsp vs 1 tbsp before~
or the bottle says 1 - 2 and so some opt for the 2~ thinking more is better~



Posted by summerville_guy on May 23, 2008 at 8:44 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Here's a more detailed article:

http://www.beaufortgazette.com/local/sto...



Posted by summerville_guy on May 23, 2008 at 8:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)

In case you don't have time to read the article in the Beaufort Gazette, basically the mom was trying to hide the baby being lethargic from the babysitter. She wouldn't let the babysittter put the baby in the car. The mom testified that she had followed the directions on the medicine "to a tee," and named times of the day when she had given the baby the medicine. However, one of those times, 2:00, would have been impossible for her to have been with her baby because she was at work at the time.

The article also talks about the toxicologist's testimony and how 17 doses of the medicine were unaccounted for. It says she could have been sentenced anywhere from 20 years to life.



Posted by Marianne0558 on May 23, 2008 at 10 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Death by Benadryl, so sad.

Some people just ARE that stupid.

FORCE parents to take courses on parenting.



Posted by summerville_guy on May 23, 2008 at 10:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Maybe she just should have had an abortion - it's the legal way to kill your baby!



Posted by luvmydogs59 on May 23, 2008 at 4:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Such a tragedy. I used to know people who would say that they gave their kids Benedryl so that they'd get to sleep, and I'd go off on them!! Kids not always going to sleep when they are "supposed" to is a part of parenting! If you don't want to deal with every little thing that being a parent entails, then don't have kids...bottom line!!

I'm glad she got a long prison sentence. Maybe by the time the 35 years are up, she'll feel some remorse for the precious life she took.



Posted by ForPnC on May 25, 2008 at 11:47 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Summerville_guy - Definitely more details in that link you gave us. Sounds like she already knew she had screwed up by the time the babysitter got there.




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