| Third Small Boy Killed In WV Within Weeks, Two Earlier Incidents By Gun Used By Parent
Couple jailed after boy dies from lethal dose of methadone
by Justin D. Anderson
Daily Mail Capitol Reporter
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HAMLIN, W.Va. - A Lincoln County couple is facing felony child neglect charges after allegedly giving a 3-year-old boy they were babysitting a dose of methadone that led to his death.
Theresa and Oscar Lee Hyatt of Griffithsville were arrested Wednesday and jailed on $100,000 bond each in connection with the Dec. 22 death of Daniel Cole Ross.
Theresa, 48, and Oscar, 45, are charged with child neglect resulting in death.
Cpl. B.M. Greenlee of the State Police detachment in Hamlin said the boy's father, Dannie Ross, and the Hyatts lived in the same trailer park on Merritts Creek Road.
Dannie Ross declined to comment.
On the day of the boy's death, Dannie had taken his son to the Hyatts and asked if they could watch him for a while because he wanted a break from the boy to rest, Greenlee said.
At some point during the day, one of the Hyatts gave the boy a dose of methadone, which is a synthetic opioid commonly used as a painkiller and to treat morphine addiction, police said.
Theresa told WSAZ-TV that Daniel was showing signs of a cold and she gave him a dose of some medication she found in a bottle in the backseat of her car and believed to be cold medicine.
She told the television station she and her husband didn't know anything was wrong with the boy until the next morning when Oscar Lee found the boy was not breathing.
But Greenlee said other statements conflict with the ones Theresa made to the media.
Greenlee said Daniel had an ear infection and State Police investigators believe the couple knew what kind of drug they were administering to the boy.
"We're assuming that it was possibly given to him to make him sleep or help him sleep," Greenlee said. "To be honest, I don't know what was going through their head."
State Police officials said the boy likely overdosed pretty quickly and the Hyatts failed to call for help.
A criminal complaint filed in Lincoln County Magistrate Court says Oscar Lee Hyatt admitted "that he did not contact an ambulance or get medical attention for the child because he was concerned with his own best interests and not the best interests of the child."
Greenlee said the boy's mother had been gone for quite some time. He added that the family had a long history with Child Protective Services regarding the boy.
The Hyatts were not immediately arrested.
After an autopsy revealed the boy had a lethal dose of methadone in his system, State Police obtained arrest warrants for the couple on Tuesday.
They turned themselves in on Wednesday, police said.
If convicted, each faces up 15 years in prison and/or fines of $1,000 to $5,000.
Contact writer Justin D. Anderson at jus...@dailymail.com">jus...@dailymail.com or 304-348-4843.
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