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Toxicologist claims mother killed son trying to quiet him with overmedication
A mother might have overmedicated her 15-month-old son, killing him, in an attempt at "chemical restraint," a toxicologist testified at the trial Tuesday of Paris Avery, 25, who is charged with homicide by child abuse.
Up to 17 extra dosages of doctor-prescribed anti-itch medication, Atarax or hydroxyzine, were given to Ra'Saan Cortez Avery Young, who was found dead at a baby sitter's house Aug. 18, 2007. A toxicology report revealed that the infant died of acute hydroxyzine intoxication.
Demi Garvin, a forensic toxicologist with the Richland Sheriff's Department in Columbia,said she believes the child was over-medicated as a form of "chemical restraint."
Chemical restraint, she said, was when a parent or caregiver "capitalizes on the medication's ability to cause sedation or somnolence because the individual does not want to care for the child for some period of time."
A pharmacy technician at the Kmartpharmacy in Beaufort, where the infant's prescription was filled, testified that the bottle contained 120 milliliters of Atarax when it was picked up two days before the child's death.
When the bottle was found at Avery's home by Beaufort County Sheriff's deputies, it contained just 52 milliliters of the prescription.
Garvin said as many as 43 milliliters, the equivalent of 17 dosages, were unaccounted for.
A blood sample taken during the child's autopsy indicated a dangerously high level of hydroxyzine, she said.