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Mother And Grandmother Charged With Teenage Boy’s Death After Giving Him Drugs

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A teenager lay dying on the floor of a motel room in Ohio while his mother and grandmother partied and got high on drugs around him.

Heather Frye, 32, gave her son Andrew, 16, a mixture of heroin and fentanyl in April, because she wanted to be a “fun weekend mum.” According to investigators, Heather told her son to take the drugs in the bathroom, because watching him bothered her.

County Sheriff Steve Barry said it was “quite apparent” that Andrew was already beyond help by the time responders arrived on the scene. He says the adults present appear to have hand a hand in getting and distributing the drugs among themselves. When the authorities arrived, they tried to hide the needles and drugs. Barry said,

The evidence in this case turns my stomach.

Heather did not have custody of her son. She, along with her mother, Brenda, 52, were arrested and sentenced to nine years each in prison. They pleaded guilty in August to several charges, including child endangering, corrupting another with drugs, tampering with evidence and involuntary manslaughter, CNN reports.

Two more people present, Jessica Irons and Donald Callaghan, likewise face lesser charges.

The Beacon Journal cited court and prison records, reporting that both women had a history of drug use and drug-related crimes.

Andrew was adopted as a baby by Tammy Smith, a great-aunt and legal guardian, who said they never thought Heather would get him addicted to heroin, and saying that he likely wanted his mother’s approval. Smith had raised Andrew alongside her three children like he was her own.

However, the teenager started seeking out his biological mother in an attempt to keep her off drugs. He developed a dependency on opioids in the process. On the night Andrew died, Heather reportedly showed up at Smith’s door and told her that they were going shopping, and on a trip. Smith says Andrew assured her that he would come back.

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