A Georgia man was sentenced to 50 years in prison for trying to poison a newborn with antifreeze because he did not want to pay child support.
Curtis Jack was convicted on charges of first degree cruelty to children and criminal attempt to commit murder, South Fulton Police said in a statement on Facebook.
Jack Had Pushed Child's Mother to Get an Abortion When She Became Pregnant
Police said Jack and a woman he worked with were involved in an intimate relationship in 2020 and that after the woman became pregnant, he pushed her to have an abortion.
The woman gave birth on September 24, 2020, but was hospitalized after the birth. A week later, she asked Jack to take breastmilk for the newborn to the child's grandmother, who was caring for both the newborn and the woman's older daughter.
Infant Became Critically Ill After Consuming the Poisoned Milk
Within 24 hours, the infant became critically ill and poisoning was suspected. Jack admitted to detectives that he'd put antifreeze in the breastmilk he took to the grandmother, and he told them he did it because he didn't want to pay child support, according to WSB. After he was indicted, however, he withdrew the confession.
Prosecutors presented testimony from the mother, the grandmother, detectives, and medical experts — including a demonstration of how easy it was to poison the milk — to obtain the conviction on all counts. The child's mother told WSB that the baby has recovered and is doing well.
