Police: Infant was exposed to cocaine

A Corbin woman, who is accused of murder in the drug death of her infant son, is being held without bond following her arraignment Tuesday morning.
Kentucky State Police Detective Colan Harrell charged Sarah Jane Davenport, 24, of Corinth Road, with murder about 10:15 p.m. Monday in connection with the death of her three-month-old son, Jeremiah Nathaniel Davenport.
District Judge Dan Ballou entered a not guilty plea on her behalf during her video arraignment Tuesday, and scheduled a Jan. 17 preliminary hearing in the case. Ballou ordered that she continue to be held without bond.
On Nov. 19, Sarah Davenport took her soon to the emergency room at Baptist Regional Medical Center about 7:30 a.m. after she discovered that the child wasn’t breathing, officials said.
“The emergency room doctor and nurse worked with the child, and were unable to revive it,” Harrell noted.
Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley pronounced Nathaniel Davenport dead at 7:42 a.m., and ordered his body sent to Frankfort where Dr. Greg Davis, a state medical examiner, performed the autopsy.
Toxicology reports showed that the child had Dextromethorphan, an ingredient found in a common cough syrup, and cocaine in its system, which Davis determined was sufficient to have caused death, Harrell said.
Harrell, Croley, and KSP Trooper David Lassiter obtained an arrest warrant against Sarah Davenport, which was filed by Commonwealth Attorney Allen Trimble and signed by Circuit Judge Paul Braden Monday afternoon.
Davenport was arrested at her residence Monday evening, and lodged in the Whitley County Detention Center.
While at the residence, Lassiter made a separate arrest charging Joey Siler, 37, of Williamsburg, with possession of methamphetamine and possession of drug paraphernalia. Harrell said Siler was at the residence when police arrived Monday evening, and is not a suspect in the homicide case.
The investigation is still pending. Harrell said that it is possible someone else might be charged in connection with the case, but not likely at this point.
Police aren’t sure how the child got the drugs into its system, but Harrell said the only possible means are swallowing it, inhaling it, or injecting it.
The child’s father did not live in the household.
Davenport has a four-year-old child, who was not at the residence at the time of her arrest. Harrell said the four-year-old was at a relative’s home, and that social services was expected to look into the matter Tuesday morning.
Whitley County Sheriff’s Detective Chuck Davis assisted with the investigation.