An Arizona mother has been accused of giving her children “obedience medicine.” Sadly, the alleged “miracle cure for misbehavior” led to a toddler’s overdose and the mom’s arrest.
Shaed Bowen, a 31-year-old Arizona mother-of-two, was arrested over a year after her 2-year-old daughter was found unresponsive before being pronounced dead at a local hospital. Although Bowen quickly claimed the toddler’s death was an accident, the deceased’s 7-year-old sister told a much different story, saying that her mother gave her and her sister “obedience medicine” at night, the IBTimes reported.
Police were called to Bowen’s residence on a Tuesday morning at around 8 am. They found the toddler daughter of Bowen unresponsive. The child was rushed to the hospital, but sadly, it was too late. She was declared dead on arrival. Her 7-year-old sister, who appeared disoriented, was also taken to the hospital, where she tested positive for methadone, a narcotic used to treat addiction, according to AZ Central.
The toddler tested positive for high levels of methadone as well, and an autopsy later revealed that she had died from an overdose. When questioned about her child’s death, Bowen stated she never gave her children methadone. Instead, she said that she was taking scheduled doses of the narcotic at home and the drug bottles were kept in a lockbox that only she could access.
Trying to explain away the overdose, Bowen told police that the toddler might have taken an empty methadone bottle from the trash. She told police that she checked the toddler after suspecting that she had been playing with the empty methadone bottle, but according to Bowen, the child showed no signs of ingestion. However, she did admit to giving both children melatonin before putting them to bed, saying the toddler had been “fussy” the night before her death.
Bowen also claimed her youngest child couldn’t open the bottle, insinuating that her other child must have opened it. When police spoke to Bowen’s 7-year-old child, however, the girl gave authorities a much different recollection of events, saying her mother would give her and her sister “obedience medication” at night. When asked whether her little sister had drunk from the methadone bottle in the trash, the child did not answer, but she did say she had stopped her sibling from playing with the bottle.
In an attempt to determine whether Bowen had told the truth, the liquid found in the bottle in the trash was tested. Although it was positive for methadone, a toxicologist determined that the level of medication in the victim’s body was too much to have been from a drop in the empty bottle, making Bowen’s story impossible, police said. The toxicologist concluded that “either the children had been given one large dose each or had prolonged exposure.”
Apparently giving Bowen the benefit of the doubt, investigators reportedly tried to get Bowen’s 7-year-old child to open several methadone bottles herself since the mother had insinuated that the older child must have opened the bottle for the toddler. The older sibling was unable to open any of the safety caps, further leading authorities to believe the mother was responsible for her child’s death.
There was one more problem with Bowen’s claims. Rather than throwing away the empty bottles, she was supposed to keep them and return them to the clinic in order to receive her next prescription, police said. A search of the house located a full dose bottle of methadone unsecured in a drawer decorated with “Hello Kitty” in the bedroom that Bowen and her children shared as well as a total of 19 sealed bottles, according to police.
Shaed Bowen was arrested at the DoubleTree Hotel near Chandler Boulevard on probable cause for showing “reckless disregard” for her children. She was later charged with second-degree murder and child abuse in connection with the death of her toddler daughter — which are fitting charges for this level of pure evil.
Giving any child a potentially deadly and addictive narcotic and calling it “obedience medicine” is downright sinister and malicious. Children trust that the adults in their life will keep them safe and have their best interests at heart. Bowen betrayed that trust for her own convenience. Rather than parenting, she exposed her children to a deadly and dangerous substance — and a toddler paid for Bowen’s betrayal with their life. It doesn’t get much more disgusting than that.
