Deltona Infant Ingests Methadone Overdose; Mom Charged With Child Abuse

Date Added: July 02, 2020 12:36 pm

Laura Williams, Office of
Public Affairs & Media Relations

DELTONA INFANT RECOVERING FROM DRUG OVERDOSE; MOM CHARGED WITH CHILD ABUSE
3-Month-Old Ingested Mother’s Prescribed Methadone

A Deltona woman has been arrested and charged with aggravated child abuse after her 3-month-old son was found to have a lethal amount of Methadone in his system.

The mother, Amber Buzia, 39, called law enforcement Sunday afternoon to report the infant was having trouble breathing after he awakened from a nap. Buzia told Volusia sheriff’s deputies she is prescribed liquid methadone to help her combat a narcotics addiction. She told deputies the baby might have ingested methadone after she took her dose then kissed the baby’s lips before putting him down for a nap.

Deltona Fire Rescue workers examined the baby and determined his condition was critical. The baby was transported by EVAC ambulance to AdventHealth Fish Memorial Hospital in Orange City. On the way, paramedics administered a dose of Narcan to the baby, reversing the drug’s effects and likely saving his life.

As the child was being stabilized in Orange City, an emergency room doctor confirmed the baby had methadone in his system. And X-rays showed he was healing from a recent possible skull fracture. The infant was transferred to the AdventHealth for Children pediatric ICU in Orlando and is expected to survive.

Detectives interviewed Buzia and the child’s father, who had been at work Sunday at the time of the incident. Buzia adamantly stated she did not intentionally give the infant methadone.

However, a medical report by a Child Protection Team pediatric nurse practitioner who specializes in child abuse injuries states: “This child was fortunate to survive his overdose. A simple kiss would not have resulted in an overdose of Methadone and the need to treat him with Narcan to reverse the drug’s effects. It is my opinion that this child was intentionally given Methadone in order to calm or quiet him.”

In addition, both parents denied knowing how the possible skull fracture occurred, but noted the infant fell out of a stroller a month or two ago, suffering minor injuries, as Buzia walked around the neighborhood with him.

Detectives inspected the stroller and found no defects or damage.

Buzia was arrested at home Wednesday and charged with one count of aggravated child abuse. She was transported to the Volusia County Branch Jail where she remains in custody with no bail allowed.

The child’s father is not being charged in the case. The Department of Children & Families has removed the infant from the parents’ custody.