A South Carolina mother has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for killing her six-week-old daughter with an overdose of morphine transmitted through breast milk. Stephanie Greene, 39, a former nurse, was convicted of homicide by child abuse in Spartanburg County.
Prosecutors argued that Greene, aware of the dangers of taking painkillers while pregnant and breastfeeding, concealed her pregnancy from doctors to continue obtaining prescriptions. She had previously lost her nursing license in 2004 for attempting to acquire drugs illegally.
Greene's lawyer, Rauch Wise, contended that his client was managing chronic pain from a car crash over a decade earlier and relied on her own judgment and internet research. He stated that prosecutors failed to prove how the morphine entered the baby's system and noted the lack of scientific evidence that morphine can accumulate in breast milk to lethal levels.
The baby, Alexis Catherine Greene, was found dead in her parents' bed on November 13, 2010. A toxicology report revealed a morphine level that a pathologist said could be lethal for an adult. Investigators found numerous pill bottles and painkiller patches on the nightstand.
Greene will serve at least 16 years before parole eligibility. Her lawyer announced plans to appeal, a process expected to take years. This case marks the first in the United States where a woman has been prosecuted for killing her child through a substance in breast milk.
