Delaware News

Mother Indicted for Providing Prescription Drugs to Daughter

Criminal Division | Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | Date Posted: Wednesday, December 14, 2011



 Georgetown – Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that his office has secured an indictment against Leslie Laughlin, age 46, of Milton, charging her with Endangering the Welfare of a Child and other crimes for providing her daughter with prescription narcotics.  Her daughter died in July 2011 from a drug overdose.

 “This young woman’s avoidable death is a tragic testament to the danger of prescription drug misuse and abuse,” said Attorney General Biden.

On July 15, 2011, emergency personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive 17 year-old girl at a Milton-area residence.  The teenager died from what was determined to be a narcotic overdose.  The investigation, conducted by the Delaware State Police Troop 4 Major Crimes Unit, revealed that Leslie Laughlin, the girl’s mother, had on multiple occasions provided her with several narcotic drugs that had been prescribed to Laughlin.  Toxicology testing conducted after her daughter’s death revealed the presence of drugs that investigators determined Laughlin provided to her daughter, as well as significant amounts of other prescription narcotics.

The December 5 indictment charges Laughlin with 5 felonies, including 1 count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, 3 counts of Delivery of a controlled substance, and 1 count of delivery of a non-controlled prescription drug for providing her daughter with Vicodin and Xanax, commonly used to control pain, and Soma, a muscle relaxer.

On December 7, Laughlin turned herself in to State Police Troopers, was arraigned in Superior Court and released on $5,000 unsecured bail with pretrial supervision.

The Delaware Department of Justice reminds the public that an indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt.  Defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a jury trial at which the state bears the burden of proving each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

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Mother Indicted for Providing Prescription Drugs to Daughter

Criminal Division | Department of Justice | Department of Justice Press Releases | Date Posted: Wednesday, December 14, 2011



 Georgetown – Attorney General Beau Biden announced today that his office has secured an indictment against Leslie Laughlin, age 46, of Milton, charging her with Endangering the Welfare of a Child and other crimes for providing her daughter with prescription narcotics.  Her daughter died in July 2011 from a drug overdose.

 “This young woman’s avoidable death is a tragic testament to the danger of prescription drug misuse and abuse,” said Attorney General Biden.

On July 15, 2011, emergency personnel responded to a report of an unresponsive 17 year-old girl at a Milton-area residence.  The teenager died from what was determined to be a narcotic overdose.  The investigation, conducted by the Delaware State Police Troop 4 Major Crimes Unit, revealed that Leslie Laughlin, the girl’s mother, had on multiple occasions provided her with several narcotic drugs that had been prescribed to Laughlin.  Toxicology testing conducted after her daughter’s death revealed the presence of drugs that investigators determined Laughlin provided to her daughter, as well as significant amounts of other prescription narcotics.

The December 5 indictment charges Laughlin with 5 felonies, including 1 count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, 3 counts of Delivery of a controlled substance, and 1 count of delivery of a non-controlled prescription drug for providing her daughter with Vicodin and Xanax, commonly used to control pain, and Soma, a muscle relaxer.

On December 7, Laughlin turned herself in to State Police Troopers, was arraigned in Superior Court and released on $5,000 unsecured bail with pretrial supervision.

The Delaware Department of Justice reminds the public that an indictment is merely an allegation and is not evidence of guilt.  Defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a jury trial at which the state bears the burden of proving each charge beyond a reasonable doubt.

# # #

image_printPrint


Graphic that represents delaware news on a mobile phone

Keep up to date by receiving a daily digest email, around noon, of current news release posts from state agencies on news.delaware.gov.

Here you can subscribe to future news updates.