RUTLAND, Vt. (AP) — Vermont State Police have arrested a woman who runs an in-home day care business on charges of manslaughter and cruelty to a child stemming from the January death of a 6-month-old girl at the home.
Police on Monday arrested 53-year-old Stacey Vaillancourt following a final autopsy report on Harper Briar, who died Jan. 24, her third day at the Rutland home. She faced arraignment; it wasn’t immediately known if she had a lawyer.
Police said toxicology testing determined Briar had high concentrations of diphenhydramine in her body, the active sedating ingredient in over-the-counter antihistamines.
The cause of Briar’s death was diphenhydramine intoxication, and the manner of death was homicide. The autopsy report noted that diphenhydramine is not to be used on infants except if a doctor orders it. There was no such order.
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