Mount Airy woman ordered to serve five years for fentanyl-related death of infant son
Dec. 22—A Mount Airy woman on Tuesday was ordered to serve five years for involuntary manslaughter for the fentanyl-related death of her infant son in July 2020.
An autopsy by the Maryland Medical Examiner's Office in July 2021 found that Grayson Frazier, who was nearly 3 months old, died from fentanyl intoxication and ruled his death a homicide.
Grayson's parents, Heather Marie Frazier, 36, and Jeremy Whitney Frazier, 35, of Mount Airy, were charged with involuntary manslaughter and neglect of a minor.
The Frederick County State's Attorney's Office alleged that the infant's baby bottles were prepared in the same room where the parents used heroin and fentanyl.
Jeremy Frazier was sentenced to five years of incarceration in March for involuntary manslaughter after entering a plea agreement. The neglect of a minor charge was dropped.
Heather Frazier pleaded guilty in August to the manslaughter charge, a news release from the state's attorney's office said. The neglect of the minor charge was dropped.
Frazier will receive 478 days of credit toward her five years.
During the sentencing, Frazier addressed Frederick County Circuit Court Judge Julie Stevenson Solt.
Frazier cried as she told Solt how much she misses her family and her other children. She said she misses Grayson.
"I'm sorry for what I did," she said, wiping her tears with her sleeve. "I wish it was me every day."
Assistant State's Attorney Tammy Leache had requested that Solt sentence Frazier to six years of incarceration for the safety of Frazier's other children and as an adequate punishment for the crime.
Leache pointed to Frazier's inability to stay clean despite the death of her son. People only want to get treatment for their drug addiction once they hit rock bottom, she said.
"You would think losing your child would be that bottom," Leache said.
In July 2021, Frazier tested positive for fentanyl despite telling a judge through her attorney that she had been clean since her son's death. Frazier was 15 weeks pregnant at the time of the positive test.
She tested positive a second time in September 2021.
Frazier and her husband put their addiction before the well-being of their child, Leache said.
Frazier's attorney, Rachel Reyes, argued for a lighter sentence of three years of incarceration.
She said that Frazier has always shown her remorse and pain in the courtroom. Frazier has been called terrible names because of what happened, Reyes said, resting her hand on Frazier's back.
"Whatever sentence you give her pales in comparison to what she has to live with," Reyes said.
Reyes pointed out trauma in Frazier's past, as well as the trauma she experienced of losing her child. That trauma has a role in her drug use, she said.
Solt acknowledged that Frazier did not intend to kill her child, but the intent did not matter since Grayson died.
Additionally, Solt said she didn't feel Frazier was showing that she was at a point where she wanted to get clean. It's realistic for Frazier to enroll in a drug addiction treatment center in the future, but now was not the time, she said.
Solt sentenced Frazier to 10 years, suspending five years. Upon her release, Frazier will be on probation for five years.
On July 3, 2020, the Frederick County Sheriff's Office responded to the area of Walden Way in Mount Airy for a CPR case involving a 2-month-old, according to a July 2021 release from the sheriff's office.
The infant, identified as Grayson, was taken to Frederick Health Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The sheriff's office arrested the parents nearly a year later, following the results of an autopsy and an investigation.
Follow Clara Niel on Twitter: @clarasniel
