Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Baby girl's horrific death after mommy allegedly laces sippy cup with deadly fentanyl

Episode Date: September 4, 2018

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This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A tiny baby is dead, not by natural causes. She's dead because mommy laces her sippy cup with fentanyl. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us. Listen to this. How did the fentanyl get in the cup? I mean, we have some idea. I'm comfortable that we can charge somebody, and I've authorized that. You are hearing the Allegheny County District Attorney, Stephen Zappala, talking about evil mommy feeding her baby fentanyl in her sippy cup.

The baby is dead. With me, Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics professor at Jacksonville State University, author of Blood Beneath My Feet. Renowned Connecticut lawyer, criminal defense attorney, Mickey Sherman. And with me now, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter, Larry Mayher. Larry, you know what? Thanks, Mom.

Fentanyl in the sippy cup. The baby is dead, Larry. That's true. The police arrived at the mother's apartment CPR on the child waiting for an ambulance to arrive. As they did, the little girl spit up a red liquid of some kind. They also noted that what appeared to be blood was in her mouth. It was later determined through autopsy and toxicology results that Charlotte Napertali, who was 17 months old, had ingested a deadly dose of the opioid painkiller fentanyl. The drug was also found inside the sippy cup that her mother admits she had given the little girl. And then the mother, whose name is Jania Pratt, and she is 23 years old, clammed up. Police and prosecutors say she has not been particularly helpful as police tried to put together exactly what happened that led up to the death of her

little girl. We were talking about the death of a tiny infant after mommy laces her sippy cup with the deadly fentanyl. Joe Scott Morgan with me. Joe Scott, explain what is fentanyl? Fentanyl is very similar in its usage relative to things like heroin. It many times has been used as an analgesic, which means it knocks pain down. And Nancy, can I give you one little factoid to put this in frame for us? Do you know what happened in August of 2018 relative to fentanyl? It was the first time that fentanyl was actually used in the United States as a component of lethal injection. It was utilized in Nebraska to take a guy's life in prison as part of

a death sentence. That's how powerful this drug is. I mean, Mickey Sherman, a veteran defense attorney, fentanyl is sold on the black market. That along with oxycodone and other drugs that are prescribed by doctors are now sold illegally like heroin and crack cocaine. It's that powerful. And this mom is putting fentanyl in the baby's sippy cup? As Michael Corleone said in Godfather II, one thing we've learned is that anybody can kill anybody else. And if she didn't use fentanyl, she could have done something else. It's the intent to kill that enables someone just to throw everything else to the wind

and do what they want to do in order to take this person's life. I started to give you grief about quoting Corleone as your answer, but actually, Mickey, you're absolutely correct. Dr. Daniel Bober, forensic psychiatrist, you know, poison or lacing food or drinks with, you know, highly powered medicines is typically a female crime statistically. Yes, that's true, Nancy. And fentanyl, which is a drug that's 100 times stronger than morphine, essentially makes the brain forget to breathe and so it's hot it's very deadly and most of the deaths in the opioid epidemic have actually been due to heroin being spiked with fentanyl and not the heroin themselves so fentanyl is is a very very lethal drug you know i will never forget uh which i banned my husband from the medicine journal after this the children were having all

sorts of like um allergies and rashes and drippy noses and blah blah when they were little you remember mickey how premature they were you were with me way back when uh when the children were born and i gave them some benadryl okay and then i took them to the only set of bucket swings I could find and we were out super early in the morning it's like 7 a.m. I'd been up with them all night and I was swinging them I looked at them and they were both slumped over like sacks of potatoes and I called David said David this is where they fell asleep in the swing. He went, oh, probably because they gave him Benadryl. I nearly did a backflip because I had given them Benadryl.

And he was under strict orders to always tell me if he medicated the children or was going to. He's, you know, he's all about OTC. But I'm all about no drugs at all. Over-the-counter drugs. You know, this is going to be the defense. It's going to be it was an accident. But hold on. If it were an accident, if it were an accident,

why did Mommy say it was an accident and cooperate with police? Listen to the district attorney. We tried to interview her. She didn't give us any information um it was kind of i hate to characterize her attitude except that she was interviewed and she was not helpful and it's her it's her child is that true larry may her crime online.com investigative reporter mommy was uncooperative yes Yes. At the time of the child's death, she was not very helpful with police. However, there was someone else who was helpful, and that was her boyfriend, who had been in

the apartment earlier in the day. He had taken care of the little girl during the morning and early afternoon hours, and then he left. And based on the time of her death, which was early in the evening, prosecutors and police determined that the only person who could have given her the drug was the mother after the boyfriend had left the apartment. Okay, there's a second line of defense, Mickey Sherman. First of all, she's going to say it was an accident.

First of all, she's going to say somebody else did it and try to point the finger at the boyfriend. Then she's going to say, okay, he did it. But if he didn't do it, then it was an accident. That's going to be the defense. I see it right now, Mickey. Especially if she doesn't take the stand. It'll be easier for the defense attorney to kind of throw both of the scenarios out there

as opposed to having her on the stand and getting pummeled by a prosecutor. Take a listen to what the district attorney says. You put fentanyl in play and somebody dies, I want to see you go to jail. What the sentencing enhancement will do is cup case feeding her baby fentanyl. The baby is dead and I want justice. Now we travel to Indiana. Did a man, a 23-old guy, Marshall S. Snyder III, aka Marshall Snyder, did he actually crush painkillers, very powerful painkillers, and sprinkle them into breast milk for a baby girl? You know what? I want to know. With me, Ashley Wilcott, Atlanta judge, lawyer, and founder of childcrimewatch.com. Joseph Scott Morgan, forensics expert, author of Blood Beneath My Feet, renowned Atlanta defense

attorney Raymond Giudice, Karen Stark, New York psychologist joining us from Manhattan, and Pamela Furr, crimeonline.com investigative reporter. It's hard for me to look at this guy he looks like a actually looks kind of like a spoiled brat college kid to me but he's actually 23 year old marshall s snyder the third and apparently he is suspected of crushing powerful painkillers and putting it in a baby's breast milk what just? Just start at the beginning, Pam. Well, you have this young girl, 18 years old, who is living with her mother, and her brother decided to move his fiance and their 11-week-old baby into that house

for whatever reason. And the 18-year-old, Sarah Rodriguez Miranda, was very jealous. She did not want them staying in that house. And so she concocted some crazy plan to crush up some pills and put them in the breast milk of that 11-month-old baby. She wanted to kill that baby. She wanted them gone out of the house. And so she started talking to her boyfriend about that

and was very, very open about what her plans were. And that's how the case started. You know, Pamela Furr, when you explain the motive behind this, it makes the entire thing even more absurd. Take a listen to this. You have the right to the issuance of the service of a warrant of extradition and a writ of habeas corpus to determine the validity

of your arrest and detention. To put it simply, Ms. Rodriguez Miranda, you have the right to have it determined that you are the Sierra Rodriguez Miranda that they are looking for and that they do have charges against you.

Do you understand this? Yes. Okay, what you're hearing is a lot of lawyer talk called extradition. It's really simple. What happens in this case, according to prosecutors, is that a woman is angry. Another woman moves into the home with her 11-week-old baby girl, and she plots revenge. It's crazy.

So she and her lover, Marshall Snyder, decide to poison the baby dead by putting powerful painkillers into a bottle of breast milk meant for the baby. Now, I can't say that they're crazy in the legal sense because then they flee to Michigan so they won't be caught for this. So they've got the cunning and the wherewithal and the plan, the machinations of a plan to get away knowing they've done this bad thing. They're caught. Now they're being extradited. Ray Giudice extradition is really simple. They're caught in Michigan. They're not determining in court whether they're guilty, whether there's probable cause, mode, nothing. All they have to do is say, are you Marshall Snyder?

And are you the Marshall Snyder in this warrant? That's all they've got to decide, and then they're sent back home to face charges. Well, that's right, and the judge will normally say, sir or madam defendant, I am not telling you that we think you're guilty of anything. This is not a conviction. This is an extradition warrant from whatever state. Do you wish to have a full-blown extradition hearing and challenge it, or do you wish to waive that and the Ford LTD will be here in the morning to drive you back to whatever state at 150 miles an hour with the blue lights on so that you can defend yourself and face whatever

charges that other state has. So it's just a procedural transfer. However, there is some advantage to the defendant in fighting extradition if you have good counsel or the resources, because you can make the opposing state that wants to, or the state that wants to bring you back, has to at least flesh out the basis of the warrant just a little bit. And it may give you a little insight. Most of the time, folks waive formal extradition hearings and get transferred back immediately. And partly that's because they're on the run.

They don't have counsel. Their family's not there. And they're in some state prison across the country, and they just want to get back to where they think safe ground will be. You know, in this case, Joseph Scott Morgan, in their wisdom, the two got a full bottle of Excedrin and crushed it up to feed the baby. What effect would that have had on the baby? It's that we know of. I don't know what else they've put in there. Just so that folks at home know what this consists of, we're talking about acetaminophen, which is like Tylenol. We're talking aspirin and we're talking caffeine. Acetaminophen, what would have happened with this child? It would have literally sent the kid into what we refer to as hepatic failure. In other

words, it would have shut this child's liver down. For aspirin, there's all kinds of contraindications for this, particularly when you administer to a very tiny baby. Nancy, we're talking about a very powerful, over-the-counter analgesic to knock down pain. Too much aspirin can literally lead a child or put a child into a state of coma. Back to Pamela Furr, CrimeOnline.com investigative reporter. So how did they manage to track the two down in Michigan? They had text messages that they had exchanged between each other, Marshall Snyder and the young 18-year-old. So the mother had seen the messages. So as they were looking for them, they found his family in Fort Wayne, Indiana. That's where they fled to, I'm sorry, in Michigan. They went from Fort Wayne, Indiana to Michigan. That's where his family lived,

and that's how they were able to track him down. And these text message exchanges, I'm telling you, Nancy, it's just very disturbing. Well, you're right. The text messages sent by Sarah to Marshall Snyder are damning. I'm quoting, quote, I'm going to crush up some of these pills since she decided they can stay longer and kill their baby. That's not all. The documents that we have obtained out of Allen County Circuit and Superior Courts in Indiana explain how the woman, Sarah Rodriguez Miranda, actually researched how much over-the-counter pain medication it would take to kill someone, then crushed multiple painkillers and put the powder in a bottle of breast milk.

We also know she sends her boyfriend, Marshall Snyder, a picture of a mortar and pestle set containing the white concoction. Now, that also was according to court documents. She says, I put the stuff in a maid bottle in the fridge. In another text, she writes, Yeah, I thought it was funny that I don't have an ounce of guilt. It seems as if in the early morning hours, Sarah Miranda's mother, who wisely monitors her daughter's phone and social media messages,

sees a text exchanged between her daughter and Marshall Snyder, the boyfriend. The mother took pictures of the messages, then went in the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door. And there she finds two baby bottles. One was darker in color with a greenish ring and a residue that had settled at the bottom. She put both the bottles into a grocery bag, put them both in a Ziploc bag, and she took the grandbaby wisely, along with a child monitor, to a nearby emergency room to immediately have the baby checked for poisoning.

It's disturbing, very disturbing. You have this 18-year-old girl who is jealous of this 11-month-old baby saying things like, yeah, you know, I don't even feel any guilt at all. She took a picture of where she had crushed up the pills and put it in this text message to her boyfriend and said, I feel no guilt at all. She then sent another text message saying, oh my God, the bottles aren't in the refrigerator. I'm so excited. Things like this in these text messages. And that's eventually what led to them, the police finding them in Michigan. Yeah, you're right. She texts, OMG, I forgot to tell you,

the bottle is gone. She was so happy those bottles had been taken out of the refrigerator. Ashley Wilcott, founder of childcrimewatch.com, one of the text messages states, I hope she dies. Oh, yeah. She does not hide her intentions in these text messages at all. The good news for the prosecution is certainly, again, it shows the premeditation. She had no qualms killing this child. Here's what's interesting to me, Nancy. In most of these cases, it is someone's own child that they are killing.

In this particular case, it is her niece. It is not even her own child. And there's this new comic. I don't know if you've heard about it. It's all about the special relationship between aunts or aunts or aunties and their nephew or niece. And so there's this whole philosophy and statistics around what a special relationship that is. And here you have an aunt who honestly, honestly, you wouldn't believe the text and the extent to which

she goes to say, hey, I'm happy to do this. I'm proud to do this. I'm going to kill their baby. Then the girl starts questioning why the baby, the infant, is still alive. Quote, why didn't that baby die, dude? That's dumb. Now we wait as justice unfolds for Marshall Snyder III. The baby lived, but now what will happen to him and his so-called girlfriend? An Ohio boy who runs away after witnessing his father's murder. Miracle, after months and months being gone, this boy has been found alive. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us.

The Ohio boy vanishes over a year ago as he witnesses his father being gunned down. I'm talking about Jacob Caldwell. Joining me from the Dayton Daily News, Richard Wilson, former federal prosecutor Francie Hakes, psychologist and lawyer, host of Investigation Discovery's hit show, Fatal Vows, Dr. Brian Russell. Jason Oceans, renowned New York attorney. And Mark Klass, victim's advocate, founder of Klass Kids. Straight out to Richard Wilson. First, Richard, I want you to take a listen to Robert Caldwell's 911 call just days before his own murder. Yeah, I got a guy chasing me over here on Sutton in Jamestown.

And he's just trying to lure me here. I'm assuming he's trying to kill me. Do you know who it is? Yeah, I do. And who is this? Who's the guy? It's Shirley Roberts. She's my ex-boyfriend. And they just lost full trustee of all our kids. Go back to the Jamestown Police Department. We'll have a deputy meet you there, okay? You are hearing the voice of Robert Caldwell, desperately calling 911 just days before his own murder.

Straight out to Richard Wilson with the Dayton Daily News. Richard, I think we better take this from the beginning. How did this whole thing start, Richard Wilson? As you hear in that 911 call, Robert Caldwell called 911 reporting that his ultimate accused killer, Sterling Roberts, was stalking him and in fact pulled a gun on him. He believed his life was in danger at that point, and that was actually two weeks prior to his own death. Two weeks prior to his own death. Richard Wilson, describe to me the death of the victim. The victim was out with his three sons. They were in a public place in a community called Riverside here near Dayton. And I think it was around six o'clock that evening. It was still very light out. Robert was approached by the gunman and shot and killed in front of his

three sons outside near a office building. One of his sons, after it happened, ran to a nearby restaurant to report what happened. You know, I'm just thinking about the horrific trauma a child would go through standing there in the driveway, I believe you said, Richard, with your father as he is gunned down in cold blood. I still wake up at night thinking about my dad being gone, and my dad passed away, and I'm an adult and I'm still upset about it to Dr. Brian Russell seeing your father gunned down right in front of your eyes no wonder the boy went running away and has been gone for a year hiding yeah most of us can't even imagine what

that would be like and what that would do to us seeing that that even as adults, as you said. So imagine at that age of your life, being 15, it's a tough age when everything's going right. Six people have now been indicted for this twisted murder plot, including an ex-wife. Well, explain to me, Richard Wilson from the Dayton Daily News, the wife is already an ex. Well, why does she care if her ex-husband lives or dies? Explain to me. Well, it's my understanding that they were involved in a heated custody battle over the children, which was settled in July of 2017. That's a month prior to Robert being shot and killed, the judge ultimately decided to grant custody to Robert and his new wife. So it's our understanding that that appears to be a factor in the motivation of his murder.

Guys, we are talking about the death of the dad and the disappearance of the boy, Jacob Caldwell. Take a listen to what Robert Caldwell's brother, Tyler, has to say. They were in love when they were married, and he cared about her, and he'd try to start a family and do the right thing. My brother called me one day and was upset. He said, I finally found it, and I didn't know what he was talking about. And he said, check your email.

It's pictures of Tani's escort website that she created. He said that he was done. I mean, this was kind of the last straw with Tawny and that, you know, he had to get out of there and move on with his life. It sounds like their relationship was a nightmare. He's referring to his wife, Tawny Roberts. Take a listen to what his mom said. My understanding is he was walking out of the counseling with the kids with him. And this guy, he came out of somewhere and he shot my son many, many, many, many times. All Bobby cared about really in life was being a good father and a good husband to his wife, Candace.

That was his whole purpose in life. He was a beautiful person. He didn't deserve that at all. He was just taking his kids to counseling. He was trying to help them. You are hearing his mom speak. And it goes to show, Francie Hakes, former federal prosecutor, that there is no love like a mother's love,

even when the child, the son, is grown. And you hear the pain in her voice talking about the death of her son, now a father himself trying to start a new life, Francie. That's a terrible case, Nancy. I mean, all I can think is the horrific irony of him taking his children to therapy so that they can deal with all the upset of these custody battles and the divorce, and then having them have to witness their lives and their parents being blown apart. And one of the other things that bothers me, Nancy, about this case I've read recently is that when they found this boy, Jacob, this eyewitness to the murder of his father, they tossed him in juvenile detention. I don't understand it. I don't understand it either. I think it's an incredible miracle that he was found. Mark Klass superior father, and that everything that he did,

the extended custody battles, the counseling, even the remarriage, was really about ensuring the safety of his children, that his children had an opportunity to grow up and have safe lives. And unfortunately, he got with a thuggish family full of psychopaths, because all of the people, with the exception of the boyfriend, all of the people that have been indicted in this case are from the mother's family. And apparently the ex-wife, the mother, Tawny, who had a soft core porn site, was calling all of the shots in this case. She was directing absolutely everybody. And the home where they found little Jacob was a home that was associated with friends of the ex-mother's family. So these people are evil beyond compare. And they took a

wonderful guy out and have obviously traumatized these three young men. And particularly, I think, Jacob, given the fact that he was living in proximity of the family of his father's killer for that entire time. You know what's amazing to me, Richard Wilson, joining me with the Dayton Daily News, the whole family is indicted in his murder. How did the whole family agree to be part of a murder plot, Richard Wilson? Well, I don't know that all those that are indicted, the ones at least that are charged with aiding and abetting, whether they knew the entire scope of what was about to happen.

So I think it's very possible that they were assisting and helping in ways that they didn't know exactly why. Well, it's hard for me to believe that they had no idea what was going on and the coincidence of the timing of the murder. Because Robert had just been awarded custody. And then two weeks later, he's dead. He gets awarded custody. Then he calls 911 and names the people he thinks are trying to kill him. They're following him around town.

Calls 911. and names the people he thinks are trying to kill him, they're following him around town, calls 911, then still nothing is done to protect him, and he's dead, and the little boy runs away. In the last day's miracle, the little boy has been found. For some reason, they throw him in juvenile detention. I wonder if this was the icing on the cake, that Robert Caldwell had finally found a new love in his life. Listen. I remember like it was yesterday when he got full custody. It was a very exciting day. We had just bought a new house so all the kids could have their own rooms and everything. You are hearing the voice of Robert's new wife, Candace Caldwell. Now, I want to figure out how the boy has stayed missing in hiding for over a year. Mark Klass, what do you understand about it?

He wasn't being held against his will, for one thing. He had the ability to come and go as he pleased. And he didn't seem particularly traumatized when the authorities finally found him. But then on the other hand, the authorities were doggedly looking for him. There was a reward that was being offered. There were billboards that were up. They were following credible leads. And in fact, a credible lead because of the reward is what led to his recovery. He was obviously coerced, Nancy. He was obviously coerced and manipulated in ways that were far beyond his control. In this scenario, I'm amazed

the boy is even still alive. How did it unfold? Take a listen. Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from an individual who felt that they had information at a possible location where Jacob could be. Detective Steyer and the FBI agent met with that individual. They were a little hesitant to come forward in the sense that they didn't want their identity out there, so we assured them that that wouldn't be a problem. Got some information from her. It seemed very credible. Some of the details that was given to us were pretty specific.

So we started looking into where this location is, the jurisdiction, and possibly getting a warrant. We got additional information a little later in the evening that possibly he was going to be moved. So we bumped up our timeline quite a bit. Got a warrant signed late last evening and just before midnight we served a warrant at a location in Miami Township. Four adults were inside and we found Jacob in the basement. Not that he was hiding there.

We don't think he was necessarily hiding at that moment from us. That appeared to be where his primary area of sleeping was. That is how it all unfolded. According to police, they received a call from a female who said she had information about where they could find the missing boy. Four individuals taken into custody listened. We were able to get him. We got four adults.

Jacob is currently over at the Greene County Juvenile Detention Center. Right now he's in under an unruly warrant that was through the city of Beaver Creek. But we're certainly going to get our charges through the township where he actually was missing from. To Richard Wilson with the Dayton Daily News. Why is he in juvenile detention? The lawyer representing his legal custodian tells us that, you know, the court is looking out for his welfare and wants to get counseling for him. So he had this previous unruly charge that was a warrant issued prior to him running away this time. And that is the

pretense of why he's being held there at this point. But I think the overall concern is just his welfare. As you can imagine, he's an eyewitness to a murder. He's certainly been through a lot over the last year or so, and he's very important to the prosecutor's case. So I think they, you know, want to make sure he's okay and he's accounted for. I mean, think about it. Mark Klass, he's witness to murder. If that mother, his mother, would gun down the father of her children and enlist her family to help her, there's six people indicted for that murder. What would she do to him? I mean, even from behind bars, he is a state's chief witness about who murdered his father. Well, he's one of three witnesses, certainly. And I don't yeah, I don't I don't imagine that the reason that she targeted him for kidnapping, because ultimately, I think that's probably what occurred there, although he did seem to go voluntarily. But I don't think the fact that she targeted him for that was to keep him from testifying. I think that you probably had other deeper, more twisted motivations involved and certainly things that I can't fathom.

Well, you know, to you, Richard Wilson with the Dayton Daily News, we also know that there's going to be, I predict, a treasure trove of cyber evidence because from what i can understand the ex-wife the one that had the porn site tawny roberts her boyfriend sterling roberts allegedly cyber stalked robert caldwell the murder victim via his cell phone with the assistance of that lovely lady the ex-wife, Tawny Caldwell. So there should be a trail a mile wide through text messages, phone calls, and so forth. Some of that evidence is actually coming to light through the lawsuit that has been filed by Robert's widow, particularly related to that 911 call and the incident that happened two weeks prior to his murder. You know, to Francie Hakes, former federal prosecutor, I want to follow up on what Richard Wilson is telling us. Apparently, the wife, the ex, Tony Caldwell, also accused of destroying contents and data of a cell phone. Hello? A lot of that can still be retrieved, Francie.

It can be. Forensic tools are pretty amazing. And I suspect that they've got their forensic analysts out there looking through everyone's computer and everybody's phone in order to find evidence. And I think, Nancy, one of the significant things in this case that you heard in that last clip you played from the police was they were saying that they got a warrant and went into this house because they had information the boy, quote, was about to be moved. Not that the child was going to run away again, but was about to be moved. There's no doubt in my mind, based on that evidence, if it's true, that the child was being held. And I think there's really only one reason for it. Perhaps of the three eyewitnesses, he had the best vantage point, or he's the one who knows more information, and that's why he was targeted for

the kidnapping and his own mother his own family it looks like have kept him out of school for a year he's had no contact with his friends this was a child who'd been isolated and probably brainwashed the other people charged are chance p deacon christopher roberts j James Harmon, and Chandra Harmon. Who are these people, these other people charged Richard Wilson, in addition to the ex-wife, Tawny Roberts, and her boyfriend, Sterling? Who are these other people? As far as I understand, they are simply associates of the mother, Tawny Caldwell, you know, friends and associates.

I don't know that there are any familial ties there i you know i first thought her family was roped in on this but it looks to me like it's more associates not necessarily family according to the fbi caldwell and shawndra harman conspire to intimidate and threaten witnesses so it's like these people think they're living in the wild, wild west. According to the FBI, threatening witnesses while the one boy has gone missing, hiding out. That boy, little Jacob Caldwell, has been found. Nancy Grace, Crime Stories, signing off. Goodbye, friend.

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