Sara Lashae Harris, Phoenix mom feeds newborn daughter NyQuil to subdue child so she could leave home for 37 hours and party and have sexual rendezvous only to return home to find child dead.
A Phoenix woman is accused of murder and child abuse following a fatal incident involving a one-month-old infant and the child’s older 17 month sibling in the middle of 2023.
The incident, according to court documents, happened in late July of 2023, but the suspect was arrested on Jan. 5, 2024.
Sara Lashae Harris, 24, according to court documents is accused of abandoning her one month old newborn daughter and 17-month-old toddler alone for 37 hours to go have a sexual encounter and visit a nightclub after plying the younger child with medication in a bid to subdue her.
Derelict mom
The mother in a bid to placate the one month old is alleged to have given the baby NyQuil, a night-time cold medicine used in the treatment of colds, coughs and flus which also has the properties to induce sleep.
Phoenix, Arizona police wrote in their arresting documents that, on July 30, they arrived at Harris’ home at around 9.40am after a one-month-old infant was reportedly found unresponsive and not breathing, AZ Family reported.
Fire Department officials responded first and found the baby lying on a mattress in the home’s living room. The infant was pronounced dead four minutes later.
Later, at the scene, Harris told investigators that her new-born had been ‘fussy’ the night before and that she had given the child food and a painkiller until they went down to sleep.
She then told officers that she awoke the following morning and left for a few minutes before requiring assistance to get back inside because she didn’t have her keys.
Drugged on NyQuil
Once back in her home, Harris said she noticed a blanket over the baby’s face and that they were unresponsive. She then called her parents, who called the police. It is not clear what the condition of the 17-month-old was.
However, after reviewing security camera footage, law enforcement officers discovered Harris’ recollection of events was full of inaccuracies.
She had told police that she’d gone to the corner market and returned an hour later, but the video footage did not confirm that account.
Detectives looked through the apartment and discovered that the infant had been lying on her back and that her skull had sunken in.
The baby’s body, they said, was also significantly colder than the temperature of the apartment, leading detectives to believe the infant had been dead for much longer than the mother was saying.
Mom’s sexual rendezvous
A bottle of children’s Tylenol, NyQuil was also found at the scene, as was a baby bottle filled with milk that had a ‘pinkish hue’ and ‘red liquid in the nipple of the bottle,’ which seemed to be the drug.
‘Investigators located a bottle of Children’s NyQuil for 6 years and older, red in color, and a syringe with red liquid remnants that appeared the same color as the NyQuil in the kitchen on top of the microwave,’ read a portion of the court documents. ‘Investigators also located a shopping bag in the trash can, which was similar to the one [Harris] was carrying in the surveillance footage entering the apartment. Also, in the trash can, investigators located a baby bottle filled with what appeared to be white milk, that had a pinkish hue to it and red liquid in the nipple of the bottle.’
The documents describing Harris’ arrest say that surveillance footage allegedly showed the parent leaving her residence on Friday night and not returning until Sunday morning.
After obtaining a warrant to search her cell phone, detectives discovered Harris had been offered money for a sexual encounter during the time she was gone.
Eventually, Harris admitted to law enforcement that she had given her children Tylenol and melatonin prior to abandoning them for a day-and-a-half.
Following last week’s arrest, the mother confessed to using drugs and alcohol while she was out of the house, but added that she became upset when she realized she’d been away for ‘such a long period of time.’
Documents indicate the child died due to causes including chlorpheniramine intoxication, which is an ingredient in Children’s Tylenol and NyQuil. It’s unclear if the 17-month-old girl required medical attention.
