A mother faces multiple charges after allegedly injecting her three children with heroin in Washington. She gave them the drug, calling it "sleep juice" and "feel good medicine."
Ashlee Hutt, 24, pleaded not guilty of second-degree child assault, child endangerment and delivery of controlled substance to a person under 18. The children's father Leroy McIver, 25, also pleaded not guilty of the same charges in September. They were taken into custody on a bench warrant in September and both remain in jail.
A witness in Spanaway home, who allegedly watched Hutt inject her children aged 2, 4 and 6 with heroin, contacted state Child Protective Services (CPS) to report the offense.
Ed Troyer, spokesperson for the Pierce County Sheriff's Office said, "Some of the statements (the children) made were very disturbing about how they would get sleeping juice (referring to heroin) to go to sleep."
KIRO reveals chilling details from the court document during the arraignment Monday. The 6-year-old child said, according to the document, that his mother and father (gave) him and his sisters the "feel good medicine" referring to heroin, which he described as a "white powder mixed with water". The boy explained that his parents "used a needle to inject the "feel good medicine" into him and his sisters" before bedtime.
CPS launched an investigation covering a period from May to November, 2015 during which Hutt and McIver are suspected of injecting all three of the children with heroin. The investigators carried out an investigation at the accused home and found discarded needles and rat faeces in the house during the dig-in investigation.
Tests traced amounts of heroin in the blood of two of the children, but not the third. Investigators also reported that the children had bruises and marks on their bodies that were consistent with needle injections, according to Fox News. CPS placed all three children in foster care.
