Read the original article on the Asheville Citizen Times website.
- A Buncombe County jury found Samantha Lynn Higgins, 32, of Asheville, guilty of involuntary manslaughter after her child’s fentanyl-related death.
- Data from a state taskforce shows child deaths by accidental poisoning — mainly caused by fentanyl — has increased statewide in the past few years and “remained high” in 2023.
ASHEVILLE – After a day of deliberation over a partially absent defendant, a Buncombe County jury found an Asheville mother guilty of involuntary manslaughter for her child’s fentanyl-related death — an issue a state taskforce said “remained high” in 2023.
Samantha Lynn Higgins, 32, of Asheville, was on trial in Buncombe County Superior Court after her 8-month-old daughter ingested or had contact with fentanyl while living in “an environment where the juvenile had access to and contact with” the drug, police said in an arrest warrant.
Asheville Police Department detectives began investigating on Sept. 8, 2022, when the child was taken to Mission Hospital. Three days later, the infant was pronounced dead.
The child’s autopsy says her cause of death was complications of blunt force injuries to the head, but fentanyl toxicity was “another significant contributing factor.” Blood sample tests during her hospitalization showed a “potentially lethal level of fentanyl,” and evidence of early organ failure was found during the autopsy, according to a copy obtained by the Citizen Times.
The child’s parents found her unresponsive early in the morning, according to the autopsy, which cites the Buncombe County Medical Examiner and APD. They took her to Mission Hospital’s Emergency Department, where resuscitation was successful, the autopsy said.
“It was reported to law enforcement that one of the parents asked hospital staff to use Narcan on the child during resuscitation, so a urine screen was performed,” which tested positive for fentanyl, the report said.
During APD’s investigation, drug paraphernalia was found “littered throughout” the apartment where the child lived, according to a news release from the Buncombe County District Attorney’s Office. The autopsy said the source of the child’s head injury was “unclear” at the time the report was written. Per department policy on case details, APD spokesperson Rick Rice declined to comment on the circumstances that may have led to the infant’s death.