By Bonnie Culverhouse
The father of a deceased baby has been arrested for the part he played in his child’s death.
Jonathan Johnson, 19, of the 400 block of S. Railroad Ave., Sibley, was arrested for negligent homicide September 20 at Minden Police Department.
Minden Police Chief Steve Cropper said Johnson, who was in a rehabilitation facility in Florida, was taken into custody at Minden Police Department.
“The baby died from Fentanyl intoxication in late May,” Cropper said. “The mother was taken into custody in June, but he fled to Florida where he’s been ever since.”
Cropper said Johnson was tracked down in a halfway house.
“By then we had a warrant, so the halfway house put him on a bus,” said the chief. “He got off the bus in Mississippi, but his mama went to Mississippi, picked him up and brought him back here.”
Mother of the 7-month-old male child is Stephanie N. Lowery, 26, of the 100 block of Pine Street.
Cropper said he is unsure if she posted bond after her arrest. Johnson’s bond has been set at $150,000.
Cropper said his officers were dispatched to Minden Medical Center in May in reference to the baby’s death.
“The parents were both at the ER and were interviewed,” Cropper said. “They said they placed the infant in the bed with them and had given him a pacifier.”
The father reportedly said he awakened approximately an hour after they all had gone to bed and the infant still had the pacifier in his mouth.
“When the mother awakened, she discovered the infant was not responsive, and they took him to the hospital,” said the chief.
Monday, June 27, Lowery came to Minden Police Department for a second interview.
“She indicated she and the baby’s father were crushing a pill laced with Fentanyl and snorting it,” Cropper said. “Lowery remembered the baby’s father crushing a pill for her but could not remember if she snorted it prior to going to sleep.”
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
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