A Ventnor woman admitted Thursday that she was high on heroin when she gave her infant daughter a fatal dose of methadone.
Lisa Scalia, 32, told Judge Michael Blee that she thought she was giving the 8-month-old Children's Tylenol but instead it was methadone.
Police were called to the home on the 5700 block of Monmouth Avenue in Ventnor Heights on Jan. 3. Olaia Marie was found unresponsive. A Ventnor police officer administered CPR, and she was rushed to the Trauma Unit at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Atlantic City and then to St. Christopher's Hospital for Children in Philadelphia, where she died five days later without ever regaining consciousness.
Scalia was arrested on child endangerment and drug charges.
Then-Prosecutor Jim McClain did allow her out for a day to attend her daugther's funeral.
"Obviously, it's very sad, very difficult, very emotional and very tragic," defense attorney James Leonard Jr. said outside the courtroom. "What can I say? This is something she will live with every day for the rest of her life."
Scalia's parents and grandparents were in court Thursday. Her mother sobbed quietly at times during the proceeding.
Initial reports were that Scalia had accidentally rolled over on Olaia while the two slept in the same bed. The charges were recently upgraded to aggravated assault after toxicology reports and additional investigating determined the infant had been given methadone by her mother.
Scalia pleaded to a charge, rather than waiting until a grand jury had the chance to decide whether to indict her.
Scalia pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, which normally carries 10-20 years in prison. But, under the plea agreement, she is expected to get eight years in prison when she is sentenced Feb. 3. She would have to serve 85 percent of that term, or about six years and nine months.
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