Mom and Boyfriend Charged After Child Eats Laced Candy

December 15, 2017

• The Case of Undisclosed Victim, 2
• Suspects Gary Gray Baughman and Nicole Margeretta Fetters

Eugene, OR – Yet another child failed by the system that is in place to protect him. A 2-year-old child was brought to a Eugene hospital last month after eating a drug-laced Sour Patch Kid gummy candy, according to a search warrant affidavit filed this week in Lane County Circuit Court.

Now the child’s parents are both in the Lane County Jail, facing charges of second-degree child neglect, first-degree criminal mistreatment and endangering the welfare of a minor.

Nicole Margeretta Fetters, 26, of Eugene was arrested Dec. 5 after an investigation by Eugene police.

Gary Gray Baughman, 30, of Eugene was arrested Nov. 19, the day he brought the child to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center, University District for treatment after the child ate benzodiazepines, a tranquilizer, commonly marketed under the brand name Xanax.

According to the affidavit, Fetters and Baughman lived with the child and three men at a townhouse on Oak Patch Road.

On Nov. 19, 2017, Fetters left the residence, leaving the toddler in Baughman’s care. Fetters later told a police officer that she was out helping a friend shop for groceries, but the officer saw a text message on Baughman’s phone indicating Fetters had gone to “get dope,” according to the affidavit.

While she was gone, Baughman reportedly was feeling “overwhelmed” and “dope sick” (a term for heroin withdrawal) waiting for her to come back, according to the affidavit, so one of his male roommates “gave him an individually wrapped Sour Patch Kid with the benzo to assist him in relaxing,” the affidavit states. The roommate had a handful of them, and each were wrapped in foil.

Later, the roommates told Baughman that the child was acting strangely, according to the affidavit. Baughman asked the child what he ate and the child said “candy,” pointing to a piece of tin foil near the couch, where the child is believed to have found a drug-laced Sour Patch Kid, the affidavit states.

Baughman took the child to the hospital, where hospital staff told police that Baughman clearly was under the influence of drugs, possibly heroin, when he brought the child in. They said Baughman was nodding off, speaking unintelligibly and moving slowly. Fetters made a brief appearance at the hospital, according to the affidavit, but she got into an argument with Baughman about her whereabouts for the day and left the hospital.

The search warrant affidavit sought to search Fetters’ and Baughman’s cellphones.
The child was transferred to PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend in Springfield. His condition or release date were not available Wednesday.

The child, who was born while Fetters was in prison for a 2014 delivery of heroin and methamphetamine conviction, had been a ward of the state and in the custody of her father until Fetters’ release in 2015.

According to the affidavit, Another child neglect case was investigated earlier this year involving Baughman and the child.

Police have been called to the Oak Patch Road townhouse several times in the past few months, regarding drug use and drug-induced psychosis involving individuals in the household.

On Sept. 9, a roommate was reported to have taken, “a lot of drugs, meth and PCP, and (was) in a psychotic state, very agitated, delusional, has not slept,” according to the affidavit.

On Oct. 9, the same roommate was reported to be “using too much meth and is now in psychosis and unable to see reality.”

Crisis Assistance Helping Out On The Streets (CAHOOTS) made welfare checks in each of those instances.

Probationary sentences have been handed down to the parents of the 2-year-old child.

The child’s mother, Nicole Fetters, pleaded guilty Tuesday in Lane County Circuit Court to a felony charge of first-degree criminal mistreatment and a misdemeanor charge of second-degree child neglect.

Judge Debra Vogt advised Fetters, who previously served prison time for dealing heroin and methamphetamine, that parenting and drug use do not mix.

“You put (the child) in physical, immediate danger,” Vogt told Fetters. “You can’t parent and put your child in that position.”

Each could be sentenced to only 15 months in prison if probation is revoked.