A 35-year-old woman in Missouri has been arrested for allegedly giving a 14-year-old girl a lethal dose of fentanyl to treat a toothache, resulting in the teen girl’s death from an overdose. Jacquelyn R. Powers was arrested last week and charged with one count of first-degree endangering a child’s welfare, which resulted in death.

While authorities did not specify the nature of Powers’ relationship with the victim, known in the filings as “VT,” several news outlets reported that Powers was the child’s mother.

According to a criminal complaint filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court, prosecutors allege that last month, Powers “knowingly acted in a manner that created a substantial risk to the victim’s life” by “giving her a pill that contained fentanyl, causing her death.”

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A probable cause affidavit from the Overland Police Department provided additional information about the child’s death.

Police stated that on October 3, 2024, the 14-year-old victim complained to Powers about a toothache. Powers then allegedly gave the child “a pill she found in her drawer,” telling investigators that she thought it was “oxycodone from her own previous surgery.”

Unfortunately, about 10 hours after Powers administered the pill, the victim was discovered dead. A subsequent autopsy determined that the victim died from a fentanyl overdose. Test results also revealed that the victim had no oxycodone in her system at the time of death.

In an interview with police, Powers allegedly revealed additional details demonstrating her involvement in the victim’s death.

“The Defendant told police she had traded some oxycodone to her mom in exchange for pills that her mom bought on the street,” according to the paperwork. “Defendant said she kept those pills in a drawer.”

Powers explained that she traded her previously prescribed oxycodone to her mother “in an effort to ‘protect’ her mom from dangerous pills” allegedly purchased on the street, according to the affidavit.

A warrant for Powers’ arrest states that “other street drugs were located inside the home” of Powers, as well as “other minor children.”

Following an investigation, a warrant for Powers’ arrest was issued on Thursday, and she was arrested Friday afternoon at her home in the 9500 block of Echo Lane in St. Louis.

“This is tragic,” said the Overland Police Department captain. Jim Morgan told St. Louis’ Fox affiliate KTVI. “This should not happen. She is 14 years old and has a long future ahead of her.”

Powers is currently being held in detention at the St. Louis County Jail on a $150,000 cash bond. She is scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing on November 19 and a preliminary hearing on December 11.

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