A 39-year-old Oakland mother is in custody on involuntary manslaughter and child abuse charges after her 2-year old son died from ingesting cocaine while in her care, according to reports.
The Oakland Tribune reports that James Patrick Johnson III died on May 23 after being rushed to UC San Francisco Benioff Childrens Hospital in Oakland. His mother, Fayson Howard, has been in custody since Sept. 8. She was scheduled to enter a plea on Monday.
Emergency responders found the boy "unresponsive" at a home that his mother, pregnant at the time, shared with other people, the newspaper reported.
Police who responded to the call alerted homicide investigators, the newspaper reported, and cops suspected the boy had somehow used cocaine.
No cocaine was found at the apartment, but Howard admitted to using the drug. Howard was arrested June 27 at an area hospital, where she had given birth to another child, the newspaper reported.
