Montgomery women jailed after 6-month-old baby allegedly 'overdoses on meth' | News, Sports, Jobs

MONTGOMERY — A week after a 6-month-old baby suffered a drug overdose, the infant's mother and a second woman identified as “a caregiver” were arrested on multiple charges, according to state police.

The mother, Morgan Elain Vanbuskirk, 24, and Rebecca Sue Aikey, 48, were taken into custody Wednesday afternoon, charged with allegedly exposing the baby to methamphetamine, police said.

Additionally, both women failed to seek immediate medical attention for the baby after he was allegedly “fell out of a stroller” He is believed to have suffered a broken leg, according to police.

“The two women live together. They are both drug addicts and they both took care of this child. The baby overdosed on methamphetamine.” a police officer told District Judge Denise Dieter at Vanbuskirk and Aikey's arraignment.

The baby has recovered and is in the care of his father, police said. County Children and Youth Services is also overseeing the baby's care.

Criminal complaints filed against both women list 77 Thomas Ave. in Montgomery as her address. However, Vanbuskirk told Dieter that she actually lives at 3731 Lycoming Creek Road in Lycoming Township, and has lived there her entire life. Aikey told investigators that Vanbuskirk had been living with her for two months.

Police said their investigation began shortly after Vanbuskirk brought the infant to UPMC Williamsport around 8 p.m. on June 26, saying Aikey “I dropped the baby on my head about four hours ago,” This was stated in a sworn statement.

Due to the infant's critical condition, he was immediately transferred to Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, where he was admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit.

When the baby was first brought to Geisinger, he was “I was sweating excessively, had a rapid heart rate and high blood pressure,” the court document stated. An X-ray revealed “a loop fracture in the upper part of the left tibia,” police said in the affidavit.

At Geisinger, Vanbuskirk changed his story, saying his son “I fell out of a stroller” the day before, June 25, while he was in Aikey's custody.

When questioned last Friday, Aikey admitted that the baby had fallen out of a stroller, “to bump shoulders and faces” as she placed him in the stroller, the affidavit states.

Aikey said Vanbuskirk took her son from the baby's father on June 23 and brought him back to Aikey's home for the night. The next morning, Aikey said, the mother asked Aikey to look after the baby while she went out. While Vanbuskirk was away, her son became “agitated and trembling”, which prompted Aikey to call Vanbuskirk, telling him to come home, after being gone for 45 minutes, police said.

The next day, June 25, “Vanbuskirk spent most of the day sleeping on the couch with the baby, who was crying intensely, causing him to overheat,” According to what Aikey told police.

As the baby continued to scream, Aikey prepared his stroller, knowing that he “loves walks”police said. That's when the baby was injured when he fell out of the stroller, Aikey said.

When police executed a search warrant at Aikey's home on June 28, they seized, among other things, two bags of methamphetamine that “were found in a top drawer of a dresser among the children's socks,” the affidavit stated.

The two women were charged with three different categories of aggravated assault, including one for “causing injury with extreme indifference” to a baby suffering from “a seizure, acute respiratory failure, methamphetamine intoxication and drug-induced fever,” police said in a criminal complaint.

Vanbuskirk and Aikey were also charged with one count each of endangering the welfare of a child, recklessly endangering another person, simple assault, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both were denied bail and booked into the Lycoming County Jail.