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Johnson v. State

The evidence supported the defendant's conviction for felony murder in connection with the death of her 3-year-old son after she administered methadone to him.

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Appellant Alana Johnson was convicted of one count of felony murder in connection with the October 2010 death of her three-year-old son, Shane Hurd. Johnson appeals the denial of her motion for new trial, asserting insufficiency of the evidence, evidentiary error, and trial counsel ineffectiveness. Finding no reversible error, we affirm.1

Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, the evidence adduced at trial established as follows. On October 10, 2010, Shane died as the result of ingesting a toxic level of methadone while he was in Johnson’s care. At approximately 4:30 p.m. on that day, Johnson called a nurse hotline to report that her son was unresponsive and had possibly ingested her prescribed methadone. On the nurse’s instructions, Johnson called 911. Emergency responders noted upon their arrival that Shane was not breathing and that his skin was blue from lack of oxygen. After unsuccessfully attempting to perform CPR, paramedics loaded him into an ambulance for transport to the hospital. Against the paramedics’ advice, Johnson declined to ride in the ambulance, opting to drive herself to the hospital, and arriving approximately 15 minutes after the ambulance arrived. Shane could not be revived and was pronounced dead at 5:35 p.m. The cause of death was determined to be a fatal dose of methadone.

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