This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
A Tooele woman charged in the death of her 2-year-old son pleaded guilty to child abuse homicide on Tuesday.
Jill Goff, 32, inadvertently fed her toddler an overdose of methadone in January, according to police. She pleaded guilty Tuesday in 3rd District Court to second-degree felony child abuse homicide, and faces up to 15 years in prison when she is sentenced on Aug. 19.
Goff called 911 on Jan. 31 when the family discovered that the toddler, Aiden Goff, was not breathing. Emergency responders tried to save the toddler, but he died at the home at 485 Oak St., said Tooele police Capt. Paul Wimmer at the time.
Several hours after Aiden died, the boy's 8-year-old brother and 5-year-old sister turned up at the emergency room, having also ingested methadone, police say. Both survived.
The 8-year-old told his aunt, and the 5-year-old told a detective, that their mother fixed a pink drink for Aiden, according to a probable cause statement. He did not like the drink so Goff had the 5-year-old taste it, and she said it was "gross," the statement adds. Jill Goff then had the 8-year-old taste it, and he said it tasted like medicine, according to the statement.
Investigators suspect the drink was Goff's colored, liquid methadone that was kept in a Gatorade bottle, Wimmer said.
"We think she may have inadvertently served it," Wimmer has said.
Goff told investigators that after the taste tests, she realized that she had poured the methadone and not Gatorade into the cup, according to the probable cause statement. Goff said she tried to get Aiden to throw up, then went to bed and took a nap with him, the statement adds.
"When asked, she said she didn't call [emergency responders] or poison control because she was scared," according to the statement.
Goff has no prior criminal history in Utah, according to a search of state records.
Twitter: @jm_miller