A US woman has been accused of killing her daughter by rubbing heroin on her gums, in a bid to get the baby to fall asleep.
Kimberly Nelligan is currently facing a child endangerment charge, which carries a maximum sentence of one year in prison and a $2000 fine. She is also charged with possession of a Class E drug, which can bear a $1000 fine and 180-day imprisonment.
The 33-year-old appeared in Maine's Penobscot County Superior Court this week, where she pled not guilty to the charges.
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She reportedly gave the middle finger to media in the courtroom when she realised she was being filmed.
According to local news website Bangor Daily News, Nelligan was arrested on September 17, nearly a year after her one-year-old daughter, Jordy, was found dead at her home.
It was later discovered that Jordy had died from fentanyl exposure, a prescription drug that is sold illegally in the US for users that crave its heroin-like effect.
The synthetic opioid pain reliever is 50 times more potent than heroin, and is often cut into doses of the drug.
Bangor Daily News reports Nelligan initially denied using opioids during the initial investigation, but eventually confessed to using heroin once a week for two months, according to a police affidavit.
Photos posted to Nelligan's Facebook page and shared by the Daily Mail show drugs and drug paraphernalia, with the post captioned, "Yay buddy."
The one-year-old's father told Bangor police that during those two months, he had seen Nelligan rub the residue of the drug on Jordy's gums about 15 times, when she had trouble sleeping.
Nelligan allegedly told Jordy's father she had done this to her two older children, and she had no intention of hurting their daughter.
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District attorney Marianne Lynch reportedly said the charges may turn into murder counts as the investigation continues.
"These are very serious, very difficult cases, and in some instances, the law isn't really designed to address issues like this," Lynch said in court.
"If things change at some point, there is still a possibility for other charges to come forward, but at this point these are the charges we are confident we can go forward with."
Nelligan will next appear in court in November.
Newshub.
