Tibina Louissant (BSO) and Josiah Fenelus (WTVJ screenshot)
A 53-year-old grandmother in Florida was arrested last week for allegedly killing her own 11-month-old grandson more than a year ago by plying the infant full of so much prescription-strength cough syrup that he overdosed. Tibina Louissant was taken into custody on Friday and charged with one count of aggravated manslaughter in the tragic death of young Josiah Fenelus, authorities announced.
According to a press release from the Broward County Sheriff’s Office, BSO deputies and Oakland Park Fire Rescue at about 9:30 a.m. on Aug. 21, 2022, responded to a call regarding an unresponsive child at a residence located in the 100 block of N.W. 40th Court in Oakland Park.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders located the child and began life-saving measures as paramedics rushed the victim — later identified as Josiah Fenelus — to Broward Health Medical Center. Unfortunately, shortly after arriving at the facility, the infant was pronounced dead.
Following the little boy’s death, detectives with the BSO homicide unit and crime scene investigators took control of the case.
Investigators soon learned that Josiah’s family had left him in the care of Louissant, his paternal grandmother, over the weekend. Over the course of the weekend, Josiah, who authorities say did not have any known medical problems, suddenly became unresponsive.
“The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and determined in October 2022 that Josiah Fenelus had a lethal concentration of the powerful antihistamine cyproheptadine in his body,” the release states. “In the summer of 2023, toxicology tests determined that items found in Louissant’s home, two baby bottles, tested positive for cyproheptadine.”
Read Related Also: Man ‘lit a cigarette too close’ to wife he’d just rubbed with alcohol, setting her on fire, waited 2 days to call for help: Police
On Aug. 14, the final autopsy report was completed. Josiah’s cause of death was determined to be cyproheptadine toxicity, and the manner of death was determined to be a homicide.
BSO in September issued a statement echoing a recent warning put out by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration regarding the increasingly common illegal use of cyproheptadine.
“Cyproheptadine is a powerful antihistamine that also acts as an appetite stimulant and is frequently used to augment one’s physical appearance,” the BSO wrote. “It is only legal with a doctor’s prescription but can be found in products sold in certain stores and online without a prescription. Antihistamine overdose can cause disorientation, hallucinations, coma and, in some cases, death.”
The drug is also not approved for use in children under the age of 2 under any circumstances.
Investigators say Louissant conceded that she was the only person to make Josiah’s bottles while in her care. Following the lengthy investigation into Josiah’s death, authorities determined that probable cause existed to charge Louissant in Josiah’s death.
She was booked into the Broward County Main Jail and released Saturday after posting bond of $50,000 on the condition that she have no unsupervised contact with persons under the age of 18.
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
