Oxycodone found in sippy cup, investigators say

PICKENS — Police allege a Pickens woman caused her grandson’s death in October by putting oxycodone in the toddler’s sippy cup.

Angela Denise Brewer, 43, of 225 Swiss Entrance, was arrested last Thursday and charged with homicide by child abuse in the October death of 13-month-old Brentley Kolbin Lane Lusk.

According to a report from Pickens County coroner Kandy Kelley, Lusk died of acute oxycodone toxicity at Cannon Memorial Hospital on Oct. 17.

An arrest warrant alleges Brewer put oxycodone in the child’s sippy cup, then gave the cup to him to consume.

Pickens County Sheriff’s Office chief deputy Creed Hashe said deputies responded to a 911 call about a child not breathing at Brewer’s home at around 5:45 p.m. on Oct. 17.

Upon arrival, officers found a family member providing CPR on the unresponsive child. EMS transported the boy to Cannon, where Kelley said he was pronounced dead shortly before 7 p.m.

Hashe said Kelley requested an autopsy on the victim. After the autopsy, performed at Greenville Memorial Hospital, sheriff’s office investigators submitted items to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division for forensic testing, Hashe said.

Results from the forensic testing determined the child had a lethal dose of oxycodone in his system and the drug was found in the sippy cup provided to him by Brewer, who was his sole caretaker on the day he died.

Brewer was arrested after a followup interview with detectives at the Pickens County Law Enforcement Center last Thursday. She is being held without bond.