Pennsylvania mother allegedly used Vicodin to kill her 2-year-old son, court documents allege
TULLYTOWN, Pennsylvania -- A mother has been charged with criminal homicide in the alleged poisoning death of her 2-year-old son.
Jennifer Clarey has been charged with one count of criminal homicide in connection to the death of Mazikeen Curtis.
Mazikeen's body was found inside his home in the 500 block of Lovett Avenue just after 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 25.
According to court documents, Clarey allegedly poisoned her son, putting Vicodin inside the boy's sippy cup, causing him to overdose.
Mazikeen's sippy cup was sent to a lab where tests revealed the presence of Vicodin on the sippy cup and in the contents of the sippy cup.
Authorities say an empty Vicodin prescription bottle was later found inside a closed lock box in the home.
Bucks County District Attorney Matt Weintraub says research was done into Mazikeen's medical history, and he was never prescribed Vicodin.
"We did some exhaustive research into Mazikeen's health history. He was not prescribed Vicodin. In fact, it's incredibly rare - if ever - that Vicodin, as we know is an opioid pain killer, would ever be prescribed for a two-year-old," Weintraub said. "Plain and simple, this was a murder, and the weapon was the pills that came from this bottle."
Authorities said the little boy's body was discovered after police responded to a welfare check.
Their neighbor, Dawn Dunlap, said she and her neighbors were the ones who called for the check.
"Me and my other neighbor, we discussed it and said, 'You know what, this is something we have to do,'" Dunlap said.
She said just hours before the boy was found dead, his mother, Jennifer, was acting extremely out of character.
"It wasn't something that I had ever seen before, so for me to hear and see what I was seeing was just not her," Dunlap said.
Authorities say Jennifer was found inside the home with self-inflicted wounds to her wrists.
Clarey is now being held without bail at the Bucks County Prison.
