Pa. mom charged in homicide of boy, 2; allegedly put Vicodin in sippy cup
A mother has been charged with criminal homicide in the alleged poisoning death of a 2-year-old boy in Tullytown, Bucks County.
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 August 25.
According to court documents, Clarey allegedly drugged her son, putting the active ingredient in 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 Clarey, 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 Clarey was found inside the home with self-inflicted wounds to her wrists.
Clarey was being held Tuesday without bail in Bucks County Prison.