Stephanie Greene concealed her pregnancy from doctors to keep obtaining morphine

Apr 7, 2014 15:21 GMT  ·  By
Stephanie Greene hid her pregnancy from doctors so that they would keep prescribing her powerful drugs
   Stephanie Greene hid her pregnancy from doctors so that they would keep prescribing her powerful drugs

A South Carolina woman who killed her six-week-old baby with a fatal dose of morphine delivered via her breast milk was convicted of homicide by child abuse and sentenced to 20 years in prison.

39-year-old Stephanie Greene was also found guilty of involuntary manslaughter and unlawful neglect of a child. Her daughter Alexis Catherine was found dead in her house in November 2010, and a toxicology report revealed that she had a lethal amount of morphine and three other drugs in her system.

The pathologist who testified on the case said the level of morphine found in the infant’s body could have been fatal for an adult, not to mention for a newborn.

By the looks of it, Greene was addicted to painkillers and hid her pregnancy from her primary care doctor. Prosecutors explained that, given that Greene had worked as a nurse, she surely knew that taking painkillers during pregnancy and while breast feeding was very dangerous for the baby, but chose to keep ingesting the powerful drugs.

She also concealed the fact that she had given birth, so that she would continue being prescribed morphine painkillers.

“This is not an indictment on breast feeding. She loved her drugs more than she loved her baby. She caused the loss of that child,” prosecutor Barry Barnette said, according to the Mirror.

On the other hand, defense attorney Rauch Wise said Greene was only trying to alleviate excruciating pain from a 1998 car accident where she fractured her skull and pelvis, and relied on her own judgment instead of medical advice.

“She needed those meds to get up in the morning and function,” Wise explained, as reported by the Examiner. “She was on total disability because of her pain, her fibromyalgia and all the other things wrong with her.”

The woman’s lawyer also claimed that prosecutors never proved that the drug overdose to the baby was a result of being breastfed. He is planning to appeal the sentence.

The 20-year prison term was the minimum sentence in Greene’s case, as she could have faced up to life behind bars. Now, she must serve at least 16 years in prison under South Carolina law before being eligible for parole.

Greene lost her nursing license in 2004, when she tried to get drugs illegally, and now she still faces 38 charges of fraudulently obtaining prescription medication.  She has two other children from a previous marriage, as well as a 7-year-old son from her current marriage.