New Jersey mom arrested as 11-year-old daughter dies after consuming unprescribed opioids for pain relief
MORRIS COUNTY, NEW JERSEY: Wade Richardson, 11, died on December 30 at her home in Boonton after her mother gave her unprescribed opioids to manage a medical condition, officials have revealed.
Shay Mooney, 34, was reportedly charged on Monday with endangering the welfare of a child after giving her daughter oxycodone and Seroquel. The latter is an antidepressant that can be used to manage pain, an affidavit of probable cause in the case says. Mooney is reportedly being held at the Morris County Correctional Facility, according to NJ.com.
Mooney reportedly called police to her home in Boonton on Monday after the girl died. The child was found laying on the floor with a pill bottle and small white pills near her body, the affidavit says.
The 11-year-old allegedly suffered from an unspecified medical condition that caused pain but her doctors would not prescribe her pain medications due to her age, Mooney claimed, according to the affidavit. Mooney has the same diagnosis her daughter had so she had been giving the child pills from her own prescriptions for several months, records say.
Officials also say the family’s apartment was "in serious disarray” with medication, pill bottles, and syringes haphazardly spread out everywhere, the Daily Mail reports. A spokeswoman for the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office said they would not be releasing any additional information on the arrest.
According to the child's obituary, her funeral will be held on Saturday, January 4, at St. Vincent Martyr Church, Madison. Following the funeral service, she will be laid to rest at St. Vincent’s Cemetery there.
Richardson has been described as having a "completely unselfish personality". She would reportedly do anything to help others in need, loved animals, and had an especially strong, loving bond with her three dogs, Duck, Goose & Peter. The family has suggested that charitable contributions may be made in the child’s memory to Harm Reduction Coalition.