After a preliminary hearing in which paramedics and hospital employees testified about a woman's apparent drug use and lack of concern for her newborn, a Tulsa County judge found there was sufficient evidence to order the woman to stand trial on child neglect charges.
Prosecutors say Candace Marie Stanley, 21, was under the influence of drugs and had several drugs in her system when she delivered a baby boy in December. Paramedics say that they responded to the apartment after receiving intermittent 9-1-1 calls from the residence, some of which referenced an "alien" on the scene.
At Stanley's preliminary hearing, a paramedic described the scene as a "drug hovel," and said that first responders found Stanley naked and bleeding on a couch, holding an umbilical cord in her hand. They found a newborn infant lying on a container of trash. The paramedic testified that Stanley refused to hold or acknowledge the baby, even though she told the woman that her warmth was needed to resuscitate the unresponsive infant. She allegedly told emergency medical personnel that she didn't know she was pregnant and just woke up from a nap with the baby between her legs.
The paramedic also testified that Stanley exhibited behaviors consistent with an altered mental state caused by drug use, and that she told paramedics that two men held her down and forced her to smoke marijuana.
The baby tested positive for alprazolam (Xanax), marijuana, and methamphetamine.
The child had to have surgery for a birth defect within days of his birth.
Hospital workers testified that Stanley said that she knew that she was pregnant prior to giving birth, and said she admitted to being a heroin user who also used meth when heroin was not available. They say she told them that vampires were going to get her while she was in the hospital. She tested positive for amphetamine.
Stanley's defense attorney argues that the woman's altered mental state could have been caused by shock from blood loss during the home delivery. She countered that he child's birth defects could be attributed to the woman's use of prescribed ondanestron (Zofran), an anti-nausea medication commonly prescribed to pregnant women and which has recently been linked to birth defects.
Another concerning feature of the case is that criminal charges for unhealthy habits in pregnancy is a "slippery slope," which could also prevent women with substance abuse issues from getting appropriate prenatal care.
A report in The Oklahoman describes the state's first case of a woman charged with child neglect for substance abuse while pregnant. In that case, the state filed charges after the woman gave birth three drug exposed infants within three years. All told, she lost parental rights to seven children because of drug abuse. Daiquiri Miller pleaded guilty to child neglect, and a Tulsa County judge sentenced her to 10 years in prison.
