By: Najla Alexander
Authorities in Monmouth County announced that an Asbury Park woman has been sentenced to eight years in state prison for being responsible for the overdose death of her 2-year-old son earlier this year.
According to officials, shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, January 5, Asbury Park Police responded to an apartment unit on the 100 block of Langford Street on a report of an unresponsive child.
At that location, officials stated they found the child, who was rushed to a local hospital, where, despite lifesaving efforts, he was pronounced deceased shortly before 2 a.m.
An investigation led by Detective Stephen Cavendish of the Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crimes Bureau and Detective Anthony Houlis of the Asbury Park Police determined that quantities of heroin and fentanyl belonging to Smith had been left in the family’s home within reach of the 2-year-old and his 5-year-old sibling, with the former child ingesting the drugs that directly caused his death, officials say.
Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago reported that Quanique Smith, 27, must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before the possibility of parole under the provisions of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA) in accordance with the terms set down during a hearing before Monmouth County Superior Court Assignment Judge Marc C. Lemieux.
Officials said Smith was arrested later on the same day and transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) before being indicted in late March.
In May, according to officials, Smith pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree Aggravated Manslaughter, to be treated as a second-degree offense for the purposes of sentencing.
