A Georgia father was sentenced to 50 years in prison on Thursday for using antifreeze mixed in breastmilk to poison his 18-day-old daughter four years ago.
Curtis Jack was arrested on Oct. 16, 2020, after his daughter became sick and tested positive for ethylene glycol — a chemical found in antifreeze.
Investigators said Jack had picked up bottles of breastmilk from the child’s mother two weeks earlier while she was hospitalized after giving birth to their child.
“After delivering the breastmilk to the child’s grandmother, who was also caring for the woman’s other daughter, the child became critically ill within 24 hours, suspected of being poisoned. Jack admitted to adding antifreeze to the breastmilk to South Fulton Police Department detectives,” police said in a statement on social media.
Police said Jack admitted he added antifreeze to his newborn daughter’s milk to avoid paying child support.
“During the trial, the State presented testimonies from the child’s mother, grandmother, law enforcement officers, and medical experts, including a demonstration of how easy it was to poison the breastmilk,” South Fulton police said.
Automotive antifreeze, even if ingested in small amounts, is extremely toxic according to poisonhelp.org. Symptoms can include drowsiness, vomiting, kidney damage and death.
The child’s mother declined to speak out following Jack’s sentencing but said the child is doing fine.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com