A 1-year-old boy landed in the hospital after his mother allegedly slipped him powerful blood pressure pills, crushed into his milk and yogurt, according to police. Investigators say she admitted giving the prescription drug clonidine to the toddler more than once, even as doctors tried to figure out why his tiny body was shutting down. The case is part of a disturbing pattern of caregivers accused of quietly poisoning babies with medications that were never meant for them.
Inside the “kept doing it” allegations
According to investigators, the young mother did not just make a one-time, panicked mistake. Police say she repeatedly gave her 1-year-old clonidine, a prescription blood pressure medication, by crushing the pills and mixing the powder into his milk in a sippy cup and into yogurt at home. In charging documents, officers described how the Mom allegedly “kept doing it,” even as the child’s condition worsened.
While the boy was hospitalized, detectives say the mother finally acknowledged what she had done. She allegedly told them that, on at least two occasions, she had administered clonidine to her son, a drug that can dangerously slow a child’s heart rate and breathing. One version of the complaint notes that Kept giving the medication left the child with clonidine in his system, something doctors reportedly confirmed through testing.
Hospital alarms and a quiet confession
By the time the toddler reached the hospital, his symptoms were serious enough that staff quickly realized something was off. Medical teams documented that the boy had clonidine in his system, a drug he had not been prescribed, and that his vital signs matched what they would expect from a powerful sedative blood pressure medication. While the victim was in the hospital, the mother allegedly admitted that she had given him clonidine twice, a detail that appears in a separate version of the complaint that begins with the phrase Jan and lays out the timeline for investigators.
Prosecutors say that “while the victim was in the hospital, the defendant admitted that on two occasions, she administered clonidine to him,” a line that appears in a sworn statement tied to the case. That same document, which also opens with While the phrase, stresses that investigators are now focused on both the child’s recovery and “accountability” for what happened.
Other parents, same terrifying pattern
As shocking as this case sounds, it is not happening in a vacuum. In Salt Lake County, a separate mother has been accused of poisoning her 17-month-old baby on at least four occasions, according to local police. That case, flagged in a report labeled “Mother accused of poisoning 17-month-old baby in Salt Lake County. Prev Next. AP. Arrest made in connection with body left at Gran,” involves allegations that the caregiver repeatedly exposed the child to harmful substances, triggering a criminal investigation and an Arrest.
In Virginia, prosecutors say a grandmother crossed a similar line with a different drug. A woman identified in court records as Woman pleaded guilty to homicide after adding an adult prescription medicine, used to treat mood disorders, to her infant granddaughter’s bottle. Another account notes that the defendant, named Haskins, already had a prescription for that medication and admitted to putting it in the baby’s bottle, with sentencing set for February 20, 2026.
The influencer cases that rattled Australia
Across the world, Australian authorities are dealing with their own version of this nightmare, one that collided with social media fame and online fundraising. Police in Queensland say an Australian influencer was charged with poisoning her baby using prescription and pharmacy medicines without approval. Officials say the child was subjected to “immense distress and pain” for more than two months, between August and October of last year, a period described in one report as “between August and October last year.” Investigators allege the woman then leveraged her child’s suffering to raise about $37,000 through GoFundMe donations.
Prosecutors later said they had uncovered additional material in the influencer case, including evidence that the mother still had the prescription medication in her possession even after it was supposedly stopped. One account of the investigation begins with the phrase While the medication was reportedly stopped, police claimed the mother still had the prescription, suggesting the risk to the child may have continued even after doctors intervened. Another summary of the same saga, which also highlights an Australian influencer charged with poisoning her baby for money, notes that the case has sparked a broader debate about how easily caregivers can access and misuse potent drugs.
Why these cases keep surfacing
What ties these stories together is not just the horror of a baby being harmed, but the quiet, domestic way it happens. In the clonidine case, police say the Kept dosing happened in everyday foods like milk and yogurt, items any parent might hand a toddler without a second thought. In Utah, the Mother accused in Salt Lake County is alleged to have targeted her 17-month-old on at least four occasions, turning routine caregiving into a pattern of harm. These are not dramatic, one-off poisonings with obvious signs, but slow, repeated exposures that can be hard for outsiders to spot.
Experts who track child abuse say that when caregivers misuse prescription drugs, the motives can range from a misguided attempt to “calm” a child to far darker goals like financial gain or attention. In Australia, police say the Australian influencer case involved online donations, while in Virginia, prosecutors described how the defendant’s access to mood disorder medication, detailed in the report that names Haskins, made it easy to slip the drug into a bottle. In each case, the common thread is access to powerful medicine, a vulnerable child, and a caregiver willing to cross a line that most parents would never even approach.
Supporting sources: Prosecutors Find New.
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