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Daniel S. Howarth was convicted of child endangerment, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia by Judge Gary B. Gilman after a two-day waiver trial that began on Monday, May 8, said District Attorney Matthew Weintraub in a release.
Gilman heard testimony from Bensalem police officers who responded to an Oak Avenue home on Jan. 7, 2022 for a call about an infant in cardiac arrest.
Body camera footage played in court showed officers and paramedics working to resuscitate the baby, according to the release.
Also displayed were photographs of the home showing "trash, dirty dishes and old food scattered about, and drug baggies, syringes, and a tourniquet inside the bedroom where the baby slept," the DA's Office said.
“That was one of the worst things I’ve seen in my life,” Judge Gilman said, per the release. “Looking at that house, that baby never had a chance.”
Investigators say the baby was found unresponsive on the living room floor around 12:30 p.m. that day. Despite life-saving efforts at the scene, he was later pronounced dead at St. Mary Medical Center in Langhorne, authorities wrote.
An autopsy eventually revealed the cause of death as "adverse effects of fentanyl," prosecutors said.
Both Howarth and the boy's mother, Felicity Westmoreland, were in the home at the time of the incident, according to the release. Suspected drug paraphernalia found in their bedroom later tested positive for traces of fentanyl and cocaine, police claimed.
Felicity Westmoreland previously pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment, and was sentenced to 11.5 to 23 months in prison plus three years of probation on Tuesday, May 9, authorities said.
For his part, Howarth received a sentence of one year minus a day to two years minus a day, followed by five years of probation, according to the DA.
Also charged was Donna Westmoreland, the baby's grandmother and previously appointed foster mother, the release says. She had received a Shelter Care Order from the Bucks County Juvenile Dependency Court prohibiting her from leaving the child unattended with his parents, authorities said.
She pleaded guilty to child endangerment on Monday and received a year of probation, the DA's Office added.
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