Authorities in Florida arrested and charged a woman in the death of her 5-year-old son who ingested meth. 37-year-old Heather Fawn Opsincs faces one count of aggravated manslaughter of a child. The incident took place on March 23, 2025. Someone called the Riviera Beach Police to report that a child in a hotel room wasnât breathing. When officers arrived on the scene, they spoke to a man whose name has been stricken from court documents. He claimed he was the babysitter.Â
While Opsincs was outside allegedly washing a cooler, the babysitter was indoors tending to the boy, USA Today reported. The babysitter told authorities he saw the boy grab a bottle of apple juice from the table and drink it. The child said the juice âtasted weirdâ and spit it out. Afterward, the boy went to the bathroom. When he came out, he was shaking, shivering, and sweating.Â
The babysitter said the boy was cold to the touch. He also noticed there were rashes forming on his skin. Eventually, the babysitter noticed that the boyâs body was stiffening and his head was tilting downward. He began performing CPR. The boy was also vomiting âblack stuffâ and having seizure-like symptoms.
Opsincs heard what was happening to the boy around this time. She entered the hotel room and saw his condition, which included him turning blue and a having a weak pulse. Opsincs told investigators that the apple juice had not been opened and was in the refrigerator. The arrest record shows that Opsincs waited an hour before she called for help while her son showed signs of overdose, WPTV reported. The boy died at the hospital.Â
Investigators saw the child at the hospital and noted he had healed bruises on the left and right side of his rib cage. There was reportedly a fresh bruise over his left eye. Opsincs told investigators the boy was autistic and required special care. As such, she employed the help of the babysitter, whom she met six months ago, to watch the boy two to three times a week.
She allegedly told the emergency room doctor that the boy wasnât allowed in the bathroom after heâd licked bleach and she had to call poison control. When authorities asked Opsincs if she used drugs recreationally, she denied ever using drugs but said she had edible mushrooms she hadnât opened yet.
Later, a representative from the Department of Children and Family Services conducted a field test. Opsincs reportedly tested positive for methamphetamines. Police also said they recovered other drug paraphernalia and two empty apple juice bottles from the scene.Â
During her pretrial hearing, the state attorneyâs office agreed to Opsincs release on $100,000 bond under a few conditions, WPTV reported. She is not allowed to contact the two witnesses or anyone under the age of 18, except for her daughter, who she can communicate with over the phone.
Judge James Nutt, who categorized the case as âpretty egregious,â mandated that she appear in court every other week and submit to random drug testing before the conditions of her bond will be solidified. Â
