OCALA, Fla. (CBS12) — A Florida jury has convicted a mother in the meth-related death of her 2-month-old son in 2019 in a case that shocked investigators.
The verdict came down on Thursday when jurors found 43-year-old Melissa Schroer of Ocala guilty of aggravated manslaughter of a child after evidence and expert testimony, according to the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
State Attorney Bill Gladson called the case “heartbreaking,” saying the infant’s life was cut short by “selfish” decisions involving drugs.
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The case began Dec. 11, 2019, when emergency crews were called to Villages Hospital after the infant was rushed there unresponsive from a home off Southeast 36th Avenue in Ocala. The infant was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.
Investigators say Schroer told deputies she had put the baby down for a nap, only to find him not breathing a short time later, after being alerted by another child in the home.
Detectives later flagged inconsistencies in the couple’s accounts of what happened inside the home.
On Feb. 5, 2020, the Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide, citing methamphetamine toxicity with contributing factors of dehydration and inanition.
Adding to their suspicious behavior, the couple allegedly fled to Florence, Kentucky, before being arrested in December 2021 and extradited to Florida. Schroer’s husband is also charged in connection with the case and remains pending prosecution.
Schroer will face sentencing on June 29 before Judge Barbara Kissner.