Mt. Airy Woman Sentenced For The Death Of Her Infant Son

She will need to serve five years behind bars.

Heather Marie Frazier (Photo from the Frederick County Sheriff’s Office)

Frederick, Md (KM) Sentencing was handed down on Thursday to a Mount Airy woman who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter for the death of her three-month-old son. Heather Marie Frazier, 36, was given ten years incarceration with all but five years suspended. She will also be placed on five years supervised probation after she’s released from prison.

Heather Frazier, and her husband, Jeremy Whitney Frazier, 35, also of Mount Airy, were charged for the death of their son. Both pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

On July 3rd, Mount Airy Police responded to a home on Walden Way for a report of an infant in cardiac arrest. “EMS got there. They transported the three-month-old to Frederick Health Hospital. Unfortunately, the infant passed away a short time later,” says Frederick County State’s Attorney Charlie Smith.

Smith says an autopsy by Maryland’s Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined the infant’s cause of death was “narcotic fentanyl intoxication.” “They were addicts. They were mixing fentanyl in the same bathroom where they were preparing baby bottles for their infant son,”: he says. “So actually it was fentanyl contamination that led to the infant’s death.”

On March 14th, Jeremy Frazier pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter. Judge Theresa Adams sentenced him to ten years in prison with all but five years suspended. He will also be placed on five years supervised probation after he’s released.

Smith calls this a tragic case. “Some people feel should this have been prosecuted? Should it not?  But the bottom line is that when you have a very reckless action that results in death or serious bodily harm, then you’re held responsible. It’s criminal,” he says.

By Kevin McManus