Tiffany Carr was dazed throughout the afternoon, going in and out of consciousness, according to a police complaint. She told police that before she fell asleep, she checked on her 2-year-old daughter, who appeared to be taking a nap on the futon next to her. A homemade pipe that she used to smoke drugs was found on a nearby end table, police said. Police said everything appeared to be fine as far as Carr was concerned.
But five hours later, Carr’s daughter ingested her mother’s fentanyl and fell off the couch.
Carr told detectives he gave his daughter two doses of Narcan, an opioid overdose prevention drug, to “rejuvenate” her heart. He attempted CPR and called for help. Fifteen minutes later, paramedics tried to revive Neveah Dunscombe at her Glen Burnie apartment. They took the infant to Baltimore-Washington Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
On August 17, the day of her daughter’s death, investigators combed Carr’s apartment. Police said the pipe was “visibly” present and two capsules were seized as evidence. One of them was empty.
Carr was originally charged with manslaughter, reckless endangerment and abandonment of a minor, but the case was upgraded by a grand jury on Friday and he was charged with second-degree murder and several counts of child abuse. It was done. If convicted on all counts and given the maximum sentence, the 34-year-old mother would spend more than 100 years in prison.
Twelve days after his overdose, Carr spoke with detectives at the hospital and spoke about his struggle with addiction. Dime bags of crack cocaine and heroin capsules were her habit, taken up to four times a day, but she still claimed she was “consistent” enough to care for her daughter.
Neveah’s death highlights the worst dangers children face when their caregivers become actively addicted.
“Being a mother and being responsible for your children is tough,” said Tammy Collins, a staff member at Serenity Sistus, a convalescent housing service based in Anne Arundel County. “There aren’t enough resources for parents.”
The Serenity Sistas network has two homes, one for women and their children and the other recently opened for men and their children. Serenity Sistus provides a calming environment for recovering parents. The organization seeks to use peer support to develop sustainable behaviors, skills, and structures for long-term, safer living.
Collins, a mother of three, said she has been recovering for more than four years after an armed robbery conviction and is nearing the end of her probation period. If she reaches that threshold, she says, it will likely be the first time in 15 years that she is out of the grasp of the state court system that once deemed her a “threat.”
Collins said in an interview that while she was in the throes of addiction, she was a “terrible parent” who always put her own needs above others. Therapy became a real option when she felt her “back was against the wall” during her last stint in court.
But Collins said that even if she accepted faster recovery as a choice, her parenting plans would not align with her treatment plans. Although Collins had people in her life who were willing to help care for her children, she explained that addicts often “burn bridges” with their loved ones. Many treatment centers don’t offer child care or allow children indoors, so finding time to get help can be difficult.
“You know, we remain essentially isolated,” she said. “And you have this little person that you’re responsible for…It becomes a situation of, ‘What do I do with this child while I get help?'”
According to a 2022 analysis from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in an average year from 2015 to 2019, more than 21 million American children lived with a parent who abused drugs, and more than 2 million children abused drugs. He lived with his parents who were suffering. Substance use disorder. Among these cases, the disorder was more prevalent in children under 12 years of age.
While adults are coping well with illness, for those who know the struggles of parents, the National Association for Children of Addiction believes that the most powerful way to support children is to be considerate and supportive of their children, even more than recommending treatment. Suggests. Ensuring that young people have supportive adults not only helps them build and maintain trust later in life, but also helps them develop resilience in their environments.
However, what help is available depends on the state and demographics of the family, including the age of the children.
Carr told investigators that she kept the drug paraphernalia out of her daughter’s reach, contradicting statements from her partner and what first responders saw.
Collins said she always thought she was “pretty good” at hiding her drug use. Her two eldest daughters urged her to “watch[her]every move” and make sure everything was taken care of. But young children who don’t know what’s going on will be curious, she says. It is said that an unfamiliar “white powdery substance” nearby may become the object of that curiosity.
Reflecting on what happened in Glen Burnie, Collins said precautions are “hard to take.”
“It’s hard to say I wouldn’t have done the same thing,” she said.
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