LI Father Found Guilty Of Poisoning Infant With Deadly Narcotics: DA

LAKE GROVE, NY — A Lake Grove father was found guilty of causing the near-fatal overdose of his infant son, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Friday.

James Carr, 35, was convicted of assault and drug possession charges. His co-defendant, Robert Mauro, 33, of Miller Place, previously pleaded guilty to numerous crimes related to the fatal overdose of a 33-year-old woman in January 2024, the DA said.

Evidence at Carr’s trial, and Mauro’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, found that members of the Suffolk County Police Department and the Ronkonkoma Fire Department responded to a 911 call reporting a non-responsive infant on Colmar Avenue in Lake Grove on Jan. 13, 2024, the DA said.

When they arrived, "John Doe," an 11-month-old infant, had turned blue, his eyes were rolled toward the back of his head, and he was having extreme difficulty breathing, investigators said.

Because of his serious condition, the ambulance that was transporting the boy to the hospital had to pull over during the transit so a MedCat Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) could board the ambulance to provide additional lifesaving care, prosecutors said. The child had stopped breathing for an extended period of time on the way to Stony Brook University Hospital and had been unresponsive for approximately 40 minutes, authorities said.

The medics inside the ambulance determined that the symptoms the child was exhibiting were from opiate poisoning, officials said. They swiftly provided the baby with Narcan in each nostril, the DA said. Five minutes after the administration of Narcan, he took a full breath on his own and began to cry, investigators said.

Once at the hospital, the 11-month-old child was diagnosed with acute fentanyl poisoning, hypoxia, and respiratory failure, officials said. The boy required additional doses of Narcan in the Pediatric Emergency Room, the DA said. After his admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the infant was placed on a Narcan drip in order to prevent recurrent respiratory failure because of the opioid poisoning, prosecutors said.

James Carr, the child’s father, was arrested on the same day, Tierney said.

Carr's Lake Grove home was searched by Suffolk police, and investigators said they recovered a straw containing cocaine, 4-ANPP (a precursor to fentanyl), heroin, and fentanyl residue; a digital scale containing cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl residue; and a plastic bag containing cocaine residue.

Data recovered from Carr’s phone revealed that on Jan. 4, 2024, and January 5, 2024, he was in contact with Mauro where they discussed a sale of narcotics, investigators said. Mauro offered to sell narcotics to Carr, officials said. Mauro knew that the narcotics he intended to sell Carr had caused an overdose previously and advertised the drugs to Carr as an "oz of fire that some kid od’d off of,"
prosecutors said.

Over the next few days, Carr actively sought out the drugs from Mauro, the DA said. On Jan. 9, 2024, Mauro sold the drug to Carr, just four days before the infant ingested a near-fatal dose of fentanyl,
authorities said.

On Jan. 29, 2024, while Suffolk police detectives were investigating the infant's father and Mauro, homicide squad detectives were called to a fatal overdose that happened at a home in Patchogue, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement recovered a 31-year-old woman's cell phone and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP, investigators said. Fentanyl/4-ANPP is a precursor, or chemical, found in fentanyl mixes, the DA said.

A review of the woman's phone data showed she had purchased narcotics from Mauro on Jan. 28, 2024, the DA said.

On Jan. 26, 2024, the woman had texted Mauro that she had not used heroin in over a year and was concerned about the substance she was going to buy, investigators said.

She texted, "I’m not trying to drop dead," and asked, "Is it really strong? Should I be concerned?" the DA said. Mauro responded with "lol u will b fine" and that he would sell her a "non-fenty" mix, meaning narcotics without any fentanyl, prosecutors said.

That same day, Mauro told an unidentified purchaser that his product was so strong that it put him out for a couple of hours, officials said.

An autopsy of the woman found her cause of death was a mixed drug intoxication of acute intoxication because of the combined effects of fentanyl, fluro fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, methoxyacytal fentanyl, xylazine, and buprenorphine, prosecutors said.

Xylazine, also known as "Tranq," is a powerful sedative, commonly used by veterinarians to tranquilize large livestock, and is increasingly used by drug dealers as a "cutting agent" to increase their profits on their sale of drugs, the DA said.

Xylazine is still currently legal to possess and sell in New York state despite legislative efforts by Tierney to ban it, his office stated.

On Feb. 20, 2024, a search warrant was executed at Mauro’s home in Miller Place, the DA said. During the execution of the warrant, Mauro was accused of trying to destroy evidence by throwing a digital scale and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP out of his bedroom window into the snow, but the evidence was recovered by law enforcement, authorities said. They also found suboxone pills and Mauro’s cellphone, the DA said.

A review of the digital evidence recovered from Mauro’s phone showed that he was aware of how deadly his narcotics were, authorities said. He told one contact that he was afraid to use it alone, texting, "I have Narcan but I’m alone so I gotta wait and see wut these kids say," investigators said. On Jan. 26, 2024, the same day he reassured the Patchogue woman before her fatal overdose, he had a separate conversation with an unidentified purchaser where Mauro mentioned how potent the drug was after he tried it, officials said.

"My office is determined and dedicated to fight the fentanyl crisis, and this conviction represents another step in the right direction," Tierney said in a news release. "This is the first time in New York that fentanyl has been deemed a dangerous instrument. We will continue our commitment to hold drug dealers accountable for selling this poison. My office will continue to fight to make sure we keep our children safe from fentanyl, and we will continue to seek justice for all victims of the fentanyl crisis."

Mauro pleaded guilty on Oct. 17, 2024 to second-degree manslaughter and criminal sale of a controlled substance. He was sentenced to five to 15 years in prison on Jan. 28, which is the maximum sentence allowable under the law. The sentence will be followed by a period of two years post-release supervision once he is released. He was represented by Matthew Tuohy.

"He's done lots of therapy," Tuohy told Patch. "He lost both his parents in the last two years. He's clean now and on a great path."

Carr was found guilty Thursday of second-degree assault and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Following the verdict, Carr was remanded into custody. He is due back in court for sentencing on March 31 and faces up to two to seven years in prison. He is being represented by John Campo, who did not immediately return a request for comment.

"We are disappointed in the outcome but respect the jury’s decision," John Campo, Carr's attorney, told Patch. "We look forward to appealing the verdict."