Toddler died of drug overdose after meth-addict parents did not check up on her for 22 hours
3-year-old Logan Starliper, who was found dead on January 6, 2018, at her home in Greencastle, Pennsylvania, by her mother, is supposedly one of the youngest ever victims of an illegal drug overdose in the state in recent history and most certainly the youngest ever in Franklin County.
Logan was found dead in her bedroom and a subsequent toxicology report stated that she died from multiple drug toxicity and had methamphetamine and buprenorphine in her body; the latter of which is commonly sold under the brand name Subutex and is an opioid used to treat opioid addiction, acute pain, and chronic pain.
Police say the toddler got access to the drugs because her two parents, Brian P. Bennett, 29, and Brittany N. Higgins, 29, were meth addicts who regularly used the drugs in front of their two children. During a search of their top floor apartment at 43 West Baltimore Street, three pipes with burned residue thought to be meth were recovered by the authorities.
Court records show that Higgins admitted to the police that she injected meth in the two days before Logan's death but claimed she kept the meth in a bag on the top shelf so the kids could not reach them. Bennett said that he kept his Subutex on a stand next to his bed, adding that he held on to the meth himself.
An investigation into Logan's death revealed that the couple had not checked on the girl in the 22 hours leading up to her death because they were inserting meth in their room. Bennett claimed that he spied her through a crack in her door at 10 am on Jan 6 and thought she was sleeping. When Higgins later checked upon her daughter at 9 pm, she found Logan to be unresponsive.
She called the police to report the death and when the state police arrived at the home, they discovered the 3-year-old in her bed, deceased, and with discoloration around her mouth, eyes, and cheeks. Higgins later confessed to her mother that she and Bennett had been doing meth the previous night. She also reportedly handed over a bag with numerous needles and a spoon with heavy white residue to her mother.
Both had a propensity to use the drugs as soon as they laid their hands on them and according to a reconstruction of the events, the couple's drug dealer, 43-year-old Fayetteville resident Rodney 'Allen' Mower, stopped by at the residence at around 5 pm on January 5 to deliver the meth which would eventually lead to Logan's death.
Police said that Mower was supposedly the only one to visit the home that day and did not leave until after the toddler's death the next day. He told police that Benett and Higgins put up a baby gate at their bedroom door before injecting the meth and that Logan and their 10-year-old son would stand outside and watch their parents get high.
Following the toddler's passing, numerous friends, family, and relatives came forward to say that they suspected the couple physically abused Logan in the months leading up to her death, claiming they saw mysterious bruises and marks on the girl. That notion was confirmed by authorities, who say they uncovered communications between the couple that indicated they neglected and abused their children.
PennLive reported the comments of neighbors, who say they were surprised and shocked at Logan's sudden death. One, who refused to be named, said: "She was a sweetheart. She liked to dance around like a lot of three-year-olds. Her death, that's hard to grip," and another added that the passing 'surprised her.'
Following the release of the toxicology results on March 22, criminal charges were filed against the pair. Both Higgins and Bennett currently face five felonies, including those for third-degree murder, drug delivery resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter, two counts of endangering the welfare of children, and misdemeanor drug possession charges stemming from the Controlled Substance, Drug, Device, and Cosmetic Act.
They are currently behind bars without bail at the Franklin County Jail and are set to appear in court in April for their preliminary hearings before Magisterial District Judge Duane Cunningham. Mower is similarly in prison after he was charged with drug delivery resulting in death and was also held without bond.
The toddler's death is said to be the sixth overdose death in Franklin County this year; last year saw 35, close to three a month. Commenting on the case, Franklin County District Attorney Matthew Fogal said: "The death of this sweet, innocent little girl is the most heartbreaking example of the danger the overdose epidemic has brought to our community and region. We will avenge her and will not rest or tire in working to prevent this from happening to others."