Report: Man Helped Girlfriend Try to Kill Infant by Putting Crushed-Up Painkillers in Milk Bottle

(Mark Makela/Getty Images)

A 23-year-old Indiana man was sentenced for helping his girlfriend try to poison her baby niece by placing crushed up painkillers in a breast milk bottle, it was reported.

Sir Marshall S. Snyder III, 23, was sentenced for aiding girlfriend, Sarai Rodriguez-Miranda, 20, in the poisoning attempt in 2017, People reported on Jan. 16

Rodriguez-Miranda already pleaded guilty, admitting she tried to kill her brother’s newborn daughter with pills.

Snyder was sentenced for one count of felony aggravated battery for his role in the incident, records show.

According to Fox59, Snyder received 15 years in prison.

Court records show that an attempted murder charge was dismissed because he made a deal to enter a guilty plea on felony aggravated battery.

Rodriguez-Miranda was angry that her brother and fiancee were living with her in her mother’s home, People reported, citing an official.

“I’m gonna crush up some of these pills since she decided they can stay longer and kill their baby,” Rodriguez-Miranda told Snyder via text message.

Rodriguez-Miranda saw the text messages and went to the refrigerator before checking on the bottles of milk. She spotted powdery residue at the bottom of the milk bottle.

The bottle was tested, revealing trace amounts of acetaminophen, caffeine, and aspirin. It’s consistent with over-the-counter pain medications.

A toxicologist determined that nine capsules of Excedrin were crushed up before it was placed in the bottle. That amount is a lethal dose, People reported.

The Journal Gazette reported that the baby wasn’t harmed in the plot.

“Why didn’t that baby die dude,” she texted Snyder. “I hope she dies. I don’t feel bad about it bc she was destined to grow up [expletive] or be abused. I’d never be suspect I know but I hope it works.”

Rodriguez-Miranda was sentenced to 25 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to an attempted murder charge.

The child’s mother told local news outlet WANE-TV during Rodriguez-Miranda’s sentencing she is  “just glad this is over.”

One of The Nation’s Most Serious Concerns

According to a report published by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (pdf), around 3.5 million children in 2016 were the subjects of at least one maltreatment report to authorities.

“Child abuse is one of the nation’s most serious concerns,” the authors of the report wrote.

About 17 percent of those reports were substantiated, and the department said that there were an estimated 676,000 victims of child abuse and neglect. That amounts to 9.1 victims per 1,000 children.

Children in their first year of life had the highest rate of victimization at 24.8 per 1,000 children, the report said.

About three-fourths of the cases were neglect, and about 18 percent were physical abuse. Some children suffered from multiple forms of maltreatment, the HHS said.

The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline is available at 1-800-422-4453 or at Childhelp.org.