Monessen mother charged in baby’s death from medication
A Monessen woman faces criminal charges for allegedly giving her sick 16-month-old daughter an inappropriate medicine that led to the child’s death.
Monessen police charged Ashley Gallatin, 30, Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment in connection with the toddler’s death. Authorities later concluded the baby died from “acute Benadryl toxicity.”
Court papers said police were called to Gallatin’s home on Knox Avenue about 9:40 a.m. Dec. 2 to find the baby’s father on the porch holding the child, who was cold to the touch and had no pulse.
The baby girl, whose name is redacted from court papers, was taken to Mon Valley Hospital and pronounced dead within a half-hour.
Gallatin reportedly said the child and her twin sister had been sick with bad colds for a few days. Officer Chris Gray wrote in court papers Gallatin said she didn’t give her dead daughter any medications and “specifically denied” administering Benadryl, an allergy medication.
The girls’ father had reportedly been at work until 10 p.m. Dec. 1, and left the babies in Gallatin’s care.
An autopsy was done that evening.
Police reportedly learned of the results of the toxicology report on Dec. 27.
Police executed a search warrant at the Knox Avenue home the following day and found 13 different over-the-counter medications, including one containing diphenhydramine, an antihistamine and the active ingredient in Benadryl.
Gallatin allegedly told police in a Jan. 31 interview whe’d tried twice to give her child a medicine. The first time, she allegedly gave the child a purple liquid medication she thought was Tylenol, but she spat it out. The second time, Gallatin gave her half a Tylenol tablet, which the child pulled from her mouth and threw on the floor.
Gallatin was arraigned Wednesday before District Judge Joseph Dalfonso. Court records, which do not list an attorney for her, show she is in the Westmoreland County jail.