Woman Guilty in Her Baby’s Death; Drug-Tainted Milk Alleged

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in Orange County, a woman accused of killing her baby through breast milk tainted with methamphetamine pleaded guilty Tuesday to felony child endangerment.

Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey sentenced Cynthia Ann Pinson, 39, of Orange to four years in prison. With time served while awaiting trial, Pinson will have about 16 months left of her sentence to serve, Deputy Public Defender Marne Glass said.

Pinson was arrested in January after an autopsy determined that her 6-week-old son, Robert Henry Sage, who died two years ago, had methamphetamine in his body. She had been missing for months before surrendering to authorities.

She also faced a felony charge of involuntary manslaughter, but the district attorney’s office negotiated a settlement with Glass and her client Tuesday, the day trial was scheduled to begin.

“We made the decision to use the court’s time wisely,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Elizabeth Henderson, who added that a trial conviction on either or both counts would have added only two to three years to Pinson’s sentence.

Even if Pinson were convicted on both felony counts, by law she could not be sentenced for both because the charges arise from the same act. With her plea, Pinson recognized endangering her child but did not admit that her action led to his death.

Henderson said similar cases have been tried in other jurisdictions.

“Because methamphetamine is a newly popular drug, we are seeing more cases like this,” she said.

Det. Michael Harper of the Orange Police Department testified during preliminary hearings that Pinson originally denied using alcohol or illegal drugs.

The baby’s death was initially attributed to sudden infant death syndrome, but a coroner’s autopsy determined that he died of a methamphetamine overdose, authorities said.

After being confronted with the coroner’s report, Pinson changed her account, Harper testified.

She said when she took drugs “she would try to wait a couple of days before she nursed again,” he said.

“The people’s theory was that the baby died of the methamphetamine found in the body,” Henderson said Tuesday. “[Pinson] admitted using” the drug.

“She knew it was dangerous, and she did it anyway,” she said.

But Glass contended that there is not enough research to prove that methamphetamine-tainted breast milk causes death in babies. She said she was prepared to introduce an expert witness who would have testified to that effect.

Glass said her client, who has no other children, is repentant and will seek drug education while in prison.

“She is still grieving,” Glass said. “She loved that baby very much.”