A 30-year-old Cudahy mother has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide for the methadone death of her two-week-old infant.
According to a criminal complaint, authorities were called to Amanda-Linn Tanski's home in the early hours of Dec. 19, 2018 after her infant stopped breathing and became blue in color.
The 14-day-old baby had no signs of trauma to the body and had been released from the hospital two days prior due to birth complications.
The father of the infant said upon returning home, he noticed the child's body was limp and unresponsive. Despite life-saving measures, paramedics declared the baby dead at the scene.
A toxicology report by the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office revealed that the baby had 53 micrograms of methadone per liter of blood in their system. Methadone is a drug commonly used to treat opiate addiction.
Tanski admitted to taking 100 milligrams of methadone twice a day as prescribed by her doctor. The doctor knew Tanski was breastfeeding and had no concerns, said the defendant in the criminal complaint.
The medical examiner ruled that the two-week-old infant died from acute methadone intoxication due to a lethal dose of methodone, ruling the death a homicide.
In an opinion, the examiner said that the amount of the drug given to the baby could not have been delivered via breastfeeding.
Bail has been set for Tanski at $5,000.
