NJ Parents Admit to Killing Baby by Rubbing Heroin on His Gums
When baby "JM" was discovered at a home in New Jersey four years ago, investigators knew his death was not an accident. The first toxicology report revealed that the 11-month-old had ingested heroin, but investigators could not prove how it entered his system. Had he simply ingested some of the drug while it was lying around the house? Why were his parents so unsure about the series of events? The case went cold until a second toxicology report years later revealed that the heroin had been placed in baby JM's mouth - by his parents.
JM ingested heroin at around 5:50 and 7:00 on the night of the incident. Within two and a half hours, he was dead. His parents Rondel Moore and Denis Manco admitted in court that they had placed heroin on the baby's gums in order to alleviate his pain from teething, a confession that was corroborated by the autopsy and the toxicology report. The infant died of acute heroin intoxication.
The state of New Jersey had initially charged the pair with drug possession, child endangerment and manslaughter, Barnegat-Manahawkin Patch reports. The state dropped the first two charges when Moore and Manco agreed to plead guilty to the latter charge. They were indicted this week. The couple could face up to 10 years in prison for the charge and are subject to the state's No Early Release Act, which means that they would need to serve at least 85 percent of their sentence - eight and a half years, in this case - before they could be considered for parole.
Both parents have a history of drug offenses on their record, the Star Ledger notes. Moore was arrested in 2005 and was allegedly dealing heroin and cocaine. Manco was also previously arrested for a narcotics offense.