BETHLEHEM, Pa. – A Bethlehem woman has been sentenced to prison for involuntary manslaughter, a charge she pleaded guilty to after her two-year-old son died of a fentanyl overdose, authorities say.
Nicole Ann Stauffer was sentenced Wednesday to 21 to 120 months in a state prison, according to the Northampton County District Attorney’s office. Stauffer pleaded guilty for involuntary manslaughter on Aug. 27.
City of Bethlehem police responded to Stauffer’s home on the 2000 block of Stefko Blvd. in Bethlehem on July 5, 2022, for a report of a two-year-old boy who was unresponsive and not breathing, according to the news release.
Officials say that the child was transported to the nearest hospital, where medical staff were unable to resuscitate the boy, and he was pronounced dead.
A search warrant was executed on July 6, 2022, at the house, where various narcotic materials and paraphernalia, including uncapped syringes and glassine containers, were discovered, according to officials.
The PSP Bureau of Forensic Services conducted an analysis on these materials and determined fentanyl was contained in an uncapped syringe found in the bedroom where the child had been sleeping, according to the news release.
The Coroner’s Office determined the cause of death of the child to be fentanyl toxicity, according to the AG’s office.