Trial begins for East Hills mom whose toddler ingested fentanyl

The trial continues Thursday for an East Hills woman who told police she had “no clue” how the deadly opioid fentanyl ended up in her toddler daughter’s sippy cup.

Jhenea Pratt, 23, is charged with homicide in the April 5, 2018, death of 17-month-old Charlette Napper-Talley.

Her trial started Wednesday at the Allegheny County Courthouse in Pittsburgh’s Downtown.

Police responded to Pratt’s East Hills apartment about 6 p.m. that day and found the child cold and not breathing, according to the criminal complaint. Police said her lips were blue. Officers performed CPR until paramedics could transport the toddler to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She was pronounced dead just after 7 p.m.

Police noted that Pratt became irate as they performed CPR, saying she wanted to clear the child’s mouth if she was choking, and “she did not want to be responsible for her baby’s death,” according to the complaint.

At the hospital, Pratt was “hostile and combative,” police said, and she walked away from detectives when they tried to speak with her.

At the apartment, investigators collected, among other things, a yellow sippy cup, a grape drink and a pink sippy cup with liquid in it, according to the complaint. Testing found fentanyl in the pink cup, which was found in the child’s bed.

Two separate blood tests indicated the toddler died of a fentanyl overdose.

Police said Pratt’s boyfriend, Albert Williams, cared for the child during the afternoon leading up to her death. He and Pratt both confirmed that Williams poured the girl a “huggie” or “happy drink,” according to the complaint. That happened sometime before noon, police said, and investigators believe if the child had ingested the fentanyl then, she’d have died soon after that – not more than seven hours later.

Pratt told police the fentanyl could have been in the fruit drinks, “because they tasted funny to her,” police wrote in the complaint.

Testimony in the case began late Wednesday afternoon. Pratt faces up to life in prison.