A Portland woman whose toddler died — allegedly of fentanyl poisoning — has been charged with killing him.
The boy, just two months shy of his second birthday, got ahold of a plastic straw used to smoke fentanyl that his mom had left in their Northeast 120th Avenue apartment on June 19, 2023, prosecutors say.
Kelsey Haws, 32, was arraigned Wednesday on a first-degree manslaughter charge and three counts of first-degree criminal mistreatment — one for each of her three children, including the unnamed boy who died.
The boy’s death was one of nine fentanyl overdoses reported to police in a three month period two years ago, The Oregonian/OregonLive reported. Five of the ODs were fatal.
After the boy was declared brain dead in a hospital, detectives found a scene of squalor with garbage and animal feces strewn about the family’s home, according to a bail memo.
The straw, called a “tooter” by Haws, was found in a drawer next to a doodle by a 7-year-old sibling, according to Detective Michael Jones.
Haws told the detective the boy had knocked over the drawer “but she was in a rush and did not look closely when cleaning,” the memo said, adding that “fentanyl users keep their tooter straws because they can scrape the inside to get residue.”
Prosecutors allege that four more fentanyl pills were found inside a lockbox marked “Loko 4 Ever” that was typically kept in the apartment.
Neighbors reported that Haws’ children were frequently unsupervised, according to the memo, and two separately said they had shared their concerns with the Oregon Department of Human Services, seemingly to no effect.
Haws worked full-time at a sportswear store near the airport. She had a bench warrant in a beauty store shoplifting case out of Washington County at the time of her arrest Tuesday afternoon, records show.
It’s not clear why the manslaughter case wasn’t charged until now. A medical examiner noted the child’s severe chronic pneumonia was likely a contributing factor in the death.
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