Inset: Anthony Lohr (Dignity Memorial/Ross Hollywood Chapel). Background: Oregon mom Kelsey Haws crying in court at her sentencing for the death of her son Anthony (KPTV/YouTube).
An Oregon mother is headed to prison for the death of her 22-month-old son after he got hold of a fentanyl-laced "tooter" straw that had been left in a drawer the mom knocked over, but she was in too much of "a rush" to notice it, according to prosecutors.
Kelsey Haws, 33, was sentenced this week to nearly six years in prison after she pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, criminal mistreatment and attempted assault for the June 2023 death of her son, Anthony.
The boy was just two months shy of his second birthday when he found the plastic "tooter" straw, which Haws had been using to smoke fentanyl, inside their Portland apartment. The toddler was being watched by his grandmother while Haws was at work; the grandmother noticed he was unresponsive and called 911, according to an affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
Paramedics arrived and administered Narcan, the brand name for naloxone, in an attempt to reverse the fentanyl poisoning. Anthony was taken to the hospital, but he died two days later.
Investigators later found the straw inside a drawer next to a doodle made by a 7-year-old sibling. The item tested positive for traces of fentanyl, according to the affidavit.
Haws told police that Anthony had knocked over the drawer but she was "in a rush and did not look closely when cleaning," according to the affidavit.
"Fentanyl users keep their tooter straws because they can scrape the inside to get residue," police noted.
Investigators also found four fentanyl pills inside a lockbox marked "Loko 4 Ever" that was typically kept in Haws' apartment, according to the affidavit.
Neighbors told police that Haws' children were often left unsupervised. Haws worked full time at a sportswear store when Anthony was poisoned; she had two other children. Anthony's father was incarcerated and remains in prison.
An autopsy determined Anthony died from "acute fentanyl intoxication."
"I was supposed to protect him, and I failed," Haws said at her sentencing on Tuesday, according to local Fox affiliate KPTV. "I know it is because of my selfishness and addiction that [my son] will never grow up, have a first job, girlfriend or just the little life he deserved."
Haws added, "I live every day with so much regret, knowing that if I had just been the mom Anthony deserved, he would still be here. I am choosing to live my life clean and sober and always trying to be a better person each day than I was the day before."
Haws was sentenced to serve 70 months for criminally negligent homicide, with an additional 13 months for criminal mistreatment and 19 months for attempted assault. The latter two sentences will run concurrently with the 70-month sentence. She will also serve three years of supervised release.
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