Mother avoids prison after 2-year-old daughter's fentanyl overdose

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A Washington County judge sentenced a mother to five years of supervised probation for the overdose of her child, the district attorney’s office announced Thursday.

The sentencing on Aug. 20 came after Megan Elizabeth Meek was found guilty of second-degree assault for her role in her 2-year-old daughter’s overdose after she swallowed several fentanyl pills.

The case stems from March 13, 2023, when Meek and her fiancé, Bret Hollmann, started the day smoking fentanyl pills purchased by Hollmann, according to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, noting their 2-year-old daughter was with them at the time.

Later in the day, Hollmann and Meek planned to take their daughter to a babysitter so they could go shopping, and stopped at a business on the way, officials said.

Meek went inside the store, and when she returned to the car, she put her bag – with multiple fentanyl pills and other drug paraphernalia – in the backseat within reach of the toddler.

According to the Washington County District Attorney’s Office, the 2-year-old ended up swallowing several fentanyl pills.

After they arrived at their destination, Meek and Hollman noticed the child was overdosing, and when Beaverton police responded to the scene, she was unconscious, not breathing and had no detectable pulse, authorities said, noting officers told the parents their child needed her stomach pumped because she swallowed the pills.

Officers were able to administer two doses of Narcan, a medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, and “saved her life,” the District Attorney’s Office said, noting she overdosed again at the hospital because of the “sheer amount of fentanyl in her system.”

Officials said hospital staff had to keep the child on a Narcan drip for a full day to keep her alive.

Hollmann admitted to officers that he bought the pills and was later caught smoking fentanyl at the hospital while his daughter was undergoing treatment and had to be removed from the facility, officials added.

Hollman was sentenced to four years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree assault and unlawful possession of a schedule II controlled substance – substantial quantities.

However, Judge Theodore Sims chose to not impose a 70-month sentence required under Measure 11, though the DA’s office said it disagreed with the decision.

“While we respect the authority of the court to issue a sentence in this case, we strongly disagree with it,” said Stephen Mayer with the DA’s office. “Parents and caregivers who risk the death of children by exposing them to dangerous drugs like fentanyl should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Were it not for the heroic actions of the Beaverton police officers and first responders from Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue, this child would not be alive today. We intend to seek an appeal of this sentencing decision.”