Bensalem Father, Grandmother To Face Trial For Infant's Overdose Death

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — A Bensalem father and grandmother are set to face trial for the fentanyl overdose death of an infant boy that occurred back in January.

Daniel Howarth, 25, and Donna Westmoreland, 58, will face trial in county court for the baby's death after District Judge Joseph Falcone recently determined that there was enough evidence against the two to make them face trial.

Howarth, along with his son's mother, Felicity Westmoreland, 23, was charged with involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment, possession of a controlled substance, and possession of drug paraphernalia back in March.

Soon after Felicity and her mother, Donna, were arrested, Howarth went on the run on March 17; he was later apprehended on March 23 and remanded to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10% of $10 million bail.

Felicity Westmoreland waived her preliminary hearing in June, according to the Bucks County Courier Times.

During the preliminary hearing, Howarth's and Donna Westmoreland's attorney, Steven Jones, said there was Orajel in the house at the time of the incident and that the baby could not have come into contact with fentanyl through that.

"Nothing else makes any sense," Knight was quoted saying in the Bucks County Courier Times.

Deputy District Attorney Sarah Heimbach argued that Howarth was negligent in having his son in the room with the drugs during the preliminary hearing.

"He allowed his child to be in a room ... that was completely covered in drugs and drug paraphernalia," she was quoted saying in the Bucks County Courier Times.

Police arrived at a home on Oak Avenue in Trevose on Jan. 7 after receiving a report of an infant in cardiac arrest. The 4-month-old was found unresponsive in the living room of the home, where police and EMS attempted life-saving measures. After being transported to St. Mary's Hospital in Langhorne, he was pronounced dead.

An autopsy of the infant revealed the presence of fentanyl in the child's blood. Police said they found the home to be in disarray with clothes, with trash and old food scattered throughout when they arrived.

While investigating the death, police discovered numerous drug baggies, syringes, and a tourniquet commonly used for drug injection. Those items tested positive for the presence of fentanyl and cocaine.

Police said the Bucks County Juvenile Dependency Court had issued a Shelter Care Order, which prohibited Donna Westmoreland from leaving the infant unsupervised with the parents. She later admitted to Bensalem Detectives that she left the infant unsupervised with his parents on the day of the infant's death, in violation of the Shelter Care Order.

She was charged with child endangerment and arraigned by District Justice Joseph Falcone on March 16. She was later sent to the Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10% of $150,000 in bail.

Justice Falcone also arraigned Felicity Westmoreland on March 17 and remanded her to Bucks County Correctional Facility on 10% of $10 million in bail.