Inset: Anthony Lohr (Dignity Memorial/Ross Hollywood Chapel). Background: Oregon mother Kelsey Haws cries in court during sentencing for her son Anthony’s death (KPTV/YouTube).
An Oregon mother is going to prison after her 22-month-old son died from fentanyl exposure involving a “tooter” straw left in a drawer she had accidentally knocked over. Prosecutors said Kelsey Haws was in too much of “a rush” to notice the drug paraphernalia while cleaning.
Haws, 33, was sentenced this week to nearly six years behind bars after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide, criminal mistreatment and attempted assault in connection with her son Anthony’s June 2023 death.
Anthony was two months shy of his second birthday when he found the plastic straw inside the family’s Portland apartment. Haws had used the item to smoke fentanyl. The toddler was being cared for by his grandmother while Haws was at work when the grandmother discovered him unresponsive and called 911, according to an affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
Paramedics administered Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, in an effort to reverse the fentanyl poisoning. Anthony was transported to a hospital, where he died two days later.
Investigators later located the straw in a drawer beside a drawing made by one of Anthony’s 7-year-old siblings. Testing showed that the straw contained traces of fentanyl, according to the affidavit.
Haws told police that Anthony had knocked over the drawer. She said she was “in a rush and did not look closely when cleaning,” according to the affidavit.
Police noted that people who use fentanyl often keep their “tooter straws” because residue can be scraped from inside them.
Authorities also found four fentanyl pills in a lockbox labeled “Loko 4 Ever” that was usually kept inside Haws’ apartment, according to the affidavit.
Neighbors told investigators that Haws’ children were frequently left without supervision. At the time Anthony was poisoned, Haws was working full time at a sportswear store and had two other children. Anthony’s father was incarcerated and remains in prison.
An autopsy concluded that Anthony died from “acute fentanyl intoxication.”
“I was supposed to protect him, and I failed,” Haws said during Tuesday’s sentencing, according to local Fox affiliate KPTV. “I know it is because of my selfishness and addiction that [my son] will never grow up, have a first job, girlfriend or just the little life he deserved.”
She continued: “I live every day with so much regret, knowing that if I had just been the mom Anthony deserved, he would still be here. I am choosing to live my life clean and sober and always trying to be a better person each day than I was the day before.”
Haws received 70 months for criminally negligent homicide, plus 13 months for criminal mistreatment and 19 months for attempted assault. The latter two terms will be served concurrently with the 70-month sentence. She will also remain under supervised release for three years.
The story of the mother who was in too much of “a rush” to clean up before her little boy died, just two days before his birthday, was first published by Law & Crime.
