Vermont man faces charges related to overdose of Charlestown infant

By ABIGAIL HAM

Keene Sentinel

Published: 10-28-2024 4:00 PM

CHARLESTOWN — The overdose of a 9-month-old child last month in Charlestown was likely caused by a bag of powdered drugs a man dropped on the floor, Charlestown police said in a news release Sunday.

Police have recommended Matthew Howard, 30, of Proctorsville, Vt., be charged with aggravated assault and falsifying physical evidence in connection with the incident, Charlestown police Lt. Jonathan Graham said. Claremont police are separately charging Howard with possession of fentanyl, according to Graham.

On Sept. 19, Claremont emergency services responded to the child’s overdose in the area of Main and Union streets in Claremont, where the child’s mother was en route to the hospital with the child, Graham said. First responders administered Narcan, an opioid uptake inhibitor, and the child was taken Valley Regional Hospital and then to Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center, police said. The child recovered.

Charlestown police said Howard was visiting his son, who was not the victim, at a Charlestown apartment complex when he unknowingly dropped the bag of drugs. There was an effort to locate the bag, according to the news release, but the child ultimately found it first and was exposed to the contents.

Graham said Howard told police he flushed the bag down the toilet after the child overdosed.

The state Division for Children, Youth and Families is involved in the case, police said in the news release.

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org. 

 

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