Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, September 30, 2022
Man Sentenced for poisoning child with fentanyl
Trey Stevens entered the courtroom of Judge Mark Fleegle Wednesday morning to plead guilty to one count of corrupting another with drugs and one count of child endangering. He will serve four years in prison.
The case came to the attention of law enforcement when caseworkers from Muskingum County Children’s Services opened a case at Genesis Hospital. Caseworkers learned from the child’s mother that the child had labored breathing and was lethargic.
The mother and Trey Stevens took the baby to Genesis, but upon seeing the line in the waiting room, they drove to Nationwide Children’s Hospital and were seen by medical personnel. When the nurses told Stevens and the baby’s mother that they would be testing the child for drugs, Stevens gathered the child up and the family left.
Stevens then discussed using the story that the child got into his “kratom,” which is an intoxicating plant originating in Africa that some drug addicts use as a substitute for illegal narcotics. In this case, the plant was being offered up as a “pacifier.” A pacifier refers to circumstances where criminals will confess to a small wrong in an effort to throw off investigators from discovering a more serious crime.
After returning to Zanesville, Stevens was dropped off to his mother, and the baby’s mother took the child back to Genesis where her fentanyl poisoning was confirmed.
At the time, the baby’s mother was cooperative with children’s services and indicated that Stevens was known to possess fentanyl in the home, and was the source of the fentanyl. This information was consistent with law enforcement’s prior experience with Stevens.
It is not uncommon in prosecution cases for the boyfriends or girlfriends of persons charged with abusing a child to prioritize their romantic relationship over their parental relationship. In this case, after some time, and after resuming custody of the child, the child’s mother refused to further cooperate with the prosecution.
Stevens' four year sentence represents a substantial punishment, particularly in the circumstances that the only person who could confirm Stevens' drug use, and the existence of fentanyl in Stevens’ residence was uncooperative related to the case. The sentence carries mandatory time, and Stevens will have to serve every day of the sentence.
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