This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated.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 Layton woman is facing criminal charges after her infant died from a methadone overdose.
Courtney Nicole Howell, 26, was charged in 2nd District Court in late October with first-degree felony causing a child to be exposed to a controlled substance in the March death of her 17-month-old child.
According to an arrest warrant, Howell called 911 on March 14 to report that her daughter was not breathing. The infant was taken to Davis Hospital and Medical Center, where she later died.
An autopsy revealed that the child died from "acute methadone toxicity," according to the arrest warrant.
When police searched Howell's home, they found several baby bottles in her bedroom. Several months later, police returned to the home and found what appeared to be the same bottles that had been in the bedroom now in her refrigerator. The state crime lab determined that methadone was in one of the bottles, according to the arrest warrant.
Howell had a prescription for methadone at the time of the child's death, court records state.
Howell was booked into the Davis County jail on Nov. 24. She is currently being held in the jail on $100,00 bail.
Howell pleaded not guilty to the first-degree felony during a Wednesday court appearance, according to the Standard-Examiner, and will be in court again on Dec. 17 for a bail hearing.