Woman Arrested for Poisoning Baby Daughter with Morphine

She's on probation in LA County for poisoning of her then 10-month-old child in a very similar situation.

25-year-old Sara Rose Dillard-Lubin Photo: Washington County Sheriff's Office

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - A Washington County woman was arraigned today on charges stemming from an incident that occurred in June where she gave her infant daughter a high dose of morphine in order to gain attention from the father of the child. Sgt. David Thompson with the Washington County Sheriff's Office, says on June 3, 2009, 25-year-old Sara Rose Dillard-Lubin took her then two-month-old daughter to the emergency room at St. Vincent's Hospital claiming that her daughter had a high fever.

"Although the doctors were unable to find any signs of the fever they were cautious and admitted the infant for observation overnight," Thompson said. "Early the next morning, on June 4th, a nurse on her scheduled rounds found the infant and the mother presumably asleep in the hospital room. The nurse took the vital signs of the child and was alarmed to find the child barely breathing with a low heart rate."

Thompson says the nurse immediately called for assistance and the child was eventually transported to Doernbecher's Children's Hospital and admitted to the critical care unit.

He says, "The young girl survived because of the prompt attention she received at the hospital."

"Doctors were puzzled as to the cause of the child's sudden medical condition. Four days later they got their answer when the toxicology tests came back positive for opiates."

Upon discovering the drug in the child's system, doctors asked Ms. Dillard-Lubin how that could have happened, Thompson said.

"Ms. Dillard-Lubin told the hospital that she was on a pain killer for a medical condition and the opiates must have come through her breast milk. When she brought in a sample for them to test, they found a high amount of morphine in the milk, indicating that it had been added after she extracted it from her body."

Doctors called the Oregon Department of Human Services, Child Protective Services, and reported the unusual series of events that had occurred. DHS started an investigation and took custody of the child for her safety.

Washington County Sheriff's detectives were called by the hospital to investigate any crimes that may have occurred.

Thompson says that since DHS had taken custody of the child and she was safe, detectives decided to wait before they interviewed Ms. Dillard-Lubin so that DHS could continue their investigation without interference.

"Detectives suspect that Ms. Dillard-Lubin was upset that the father of the child did not come to the hospital when she initially admitted the baby with a fever. They believe that, in order to gain the fathers attention, Ms. Dillard-Lubin decided to poison her baby with morphine while they were still at the hospital."

Detectives eventually arrested Ms. Dillard-Lubin on a probation violation. During their investigation detectives learned that Ms. Dillard-Lubin is on probation after being convicted in Los Angeles County of Willful Cruelty to a Child.

That conviction stemmed from the poisoning of Ms. Dillard-Lubin's then ten-month-old child.

In a very similar situation, Ms. Dillard-Lubin used morphine to create a medical emergency. The child was flown to UCLA Medical Center and survived.

He was taken from Ms. Dillard-Lubin and custody was eventually given to the father, who is not the same father of the infant girl in the Washington County Case.

Ms. Dillard-Lubin was sentenced to four to six months in jail and when she was released she transferred her probation to Oregon. Up until the time of her arrest, Ms. Dillard-Lubin worked as a medical assistant for Oregon Pediatrics. She has minimal medical training and is not a licensed nurse. Wednesday, Ms. Dillard-Lubin was indicted on several charges stemming from the assault on her child. She was arraigned today at 10:30 a.m. at the main court house located at 150 N. 1st Avenue.