A 79-year-old woman from Florida, sporting an unbothered smile in her mugshot, faces serious charges alongside three others for allegedly allowing a toddler to consume methamphetamine from a sippy cup. When the child fell ill, they reportedly failed to seek emergency medical help, according to authorities.
The Nassau County Sheriff’s Office released the booking photo of Judith Addison, accused of exposing a 1-year-old to the dangerous substance. Her carefree demeanor starkly contrasts with the grave nature of her alleged actions.
Arrested alongside Addison were Hayden Simmons, Damien Windham, both 21, and Erica Foley, 45. Unlike Addison, the expressions captured in their mugshots were markedly solemn.
Simmons and Windham, who have been in a relationship since at least September 2023 and share a child together, may be connected to the toddler involved. However, officials have yet to confirm the relationship of the child to the couple.
The incident unfolded in a Callahan residence on February 24, when a sippy cup, unknowingly harboring a bag of meth, was consumed by the child. Upon realizing the potential ingestion of the drug, neither the parents nor other adults present took immediate action to contact emergency services, police reported.
Despite realizing that the child may have ingested the potentially deadly drug, neither of the child’s parents nor any of the other residents in the home immediately called 911, cops said.
Only when the child started vomiting did the mother finally take the toddler to a local fire station. Officials then rushed the child to a hospital “for treatment of a possible overdose.”
Police searched the home and discovered several glass pipes with meth residue and other drug paraphernalia.
Simmons, Windham, Foley, and Addison, who lived at the home, were arrested and charged with child neglect and causing serious bodily injury.
Foley faces an additional charge of possession of drug paraphernalia.
“This is a heartbreaking and completely preventable situation. A one-year-old child was exposed to a dangerous, illegal drug because the adults in that home failed to provide even the most basic level of care and protection,” Sheriff Bill Leeper said in a statement.
“There is absolutely no excuse for methamphetamine to be within reach of a child.”
