Sheriff: Mother Facing Murder Charge After 4-Year-Old Consumes THC Gummies

A mother in Virginia faces murder charges for the death of her four-year-old son involving THC, the chemical found in cannabis.

Thirty-year-old Dorothy Annette Clements was indicted this week by a Spotsylvania County Grand Jury, Fox News reported Thursday.

The boy died on May 8 following a medical emergency a few days prior at a residence located on Jamie Court, the Spotsylvania Sheriff’s Office said in a press release:

Detectives from the Child Victims Unit investigated the death and learned from doctors that the child’s toxicity level showed a high level of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). Detectives believe the child ingested a large amount of THC gummies. The attending doctor told Detectives that if medical intervention occurred shortly after ingestion, it could have prevented death. Statements made to Detectives by the mother did not match evidence seized at the home.

The agency noted Clements was taken into custody on Thursday and held in the Rappahannock Regional Jail without bond:

Major Troy Skebo told Fox the gummies contained “delta-8 THC.” However, “The FDA says delta-8 THC products have not been evaluated or approved by the agency for safe use in any context and ‘should especially be kept out of reach of children and pets.'”

According to WebMD, the chemicals THC and CBD are found in marijuana and hemp:

CBD and THC have the same chemical formula — 21 carbon atoms, 30 hydrogen atoms, and two oxygen atoms. The difference lies in the way the atoms are arranged. That gives CBD and THC different chemical properties, and they affect your body differently.

Both CBD and THC work with receptors that release neurotransmitters in your brain. They can affect things like pain, mood, sleep, and memory.

THC is what gives a person the “high” feeling, the website said.

In April, a Virginia daycare owner was arrested after authorities said three one-year-olds enrolled at the center were exposed to THC, Breitbart News reported.