Mom of toddler who died of drug overdose sentenced to prison
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) — The mother of a 21-month-old New Hampshire girl who died after ingesting fentanyl at a truck stop in 2020 pleaded guilty to negligent homicide Monday and was sentenced to eight to 20 years in prison.
Shawna Cote, 30, didn't speak at her sentencing but wiped her eyes with a tissue as family members addressed a judge about the loss of her daughter, Adalynn. They said the child is missed by many, including her older sister, who referred to her as “Babyheart," a relative said. She was nearly 5 years old when Adalynn died.
“The hardest part for me is knowing that she will forever live with the pain of losing her baby sister, and there's nothing on this earth I could do to take her pain way," her aunt, Mechelle Rodriguez, said. Cote's son, who was born after Adalynn died, “will know of her," Rodriguez said.
Cote pleaded guilty in a plea agreement, also admitting to falsifying evidence and endangering the welfare of a child. Adalynn's father, Mark Geremia, who pleaded not guilty to negligent homicide and other charges, is scheduled to go to trial, and a friend who was with them plans to to plead guilty to a reckless conduct charge.
Police said the three adults, Adalynn and her sister went to the Londonderry truck stop in their pickup truck to rest after trading an ATV in Massachusetts for what they thought was heroin. The adults used the drug and fell asleep. A police investigation later showed evidence of fentanyl in the truck.
When they woke up, Adalynn was not conscious. Cote tried to give an opioid-overdose antidote to Adalynn, and then got out of the vehicle with her other daughter and walked away, police said.
A witness said Geremia performed CPR on Adalynn, but then stopped at one point to smoke a cigarette.
Cote has a criminal record that...