A mother was arrested when two young children tested positive for opiates at the hospital after nearly dying, according to prosecutors.
Katrina Annette Lynch, 35, was charged with two counts of severe child abuse inflicting serious bodily injury after two children in her care, a 2 year old and an 18 month old, were found unresponsive and taken to the hospital, Assistant District Attorney Bill Stevenson said during Lynch’s court appearance Wednesday.
One of the children tested positive for fentanyl, while the other child tested positive for an unknown opiate, Stevenson said.
Lynch admitted to police that she delayed taking the children to the hospital because she was scared, Stevenson said. She also told police the children had accessed prescription medication that they shouldn’t have.
Judge John Greenlee set Lynch’s bond at $500,000.
Lynch’s husband, Raymond Johnson, said in an interview that the allegations are false.
“My wife is not guilty of these. It’s just kids being kids, grabbing something they shouldn’t have been. Basically, they took the wrong pills, and they had a reaction from it,” he said. “It’s just an accident.”