Aleisia Owens (New Castle Police Department) and Iris Alfera (WTAE screenshot)
A 20-year-old woman in Pennsylvania has been arrested for allegedly killing her boyfriend’s 1-year-old daughter, conducting “meticulous” research on how to kill the toddler with household items before ultimately giving her a fatal dose of acetone.
Aleisia Owens was taken into custody on Thursday and charged with criminal homicide in the slaying of young Iris Alfera, authorities announced.
Owens was also charged with attempted criminal homicide, aggravated assault of a child, and endangering the welfare of a child for alleged “acts of abuse” in the months leading up to Iris’ death, which included feeding the infant “numerous water beads” and “button-shaped batteries,” the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.
“The details of this case are heartbreaking. It is hard to fathom someone taking deliberate steps to harm a completely helpless child, then mislead investigators about what happened,” Attorney General Michelle Henry said in a statement. “The investigation shows that, for months, the defendant conducted meticulous research on how certain substances harm children. She then allegedly acted on her findings.”
According to the release, emergency medical personnel on June 25, 2023, responded to a residence in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in regards to an unresponsive 1-year-old girl. Upon arriving at the scene, first responders found Iris unconscious and not breathing. The child was immediately transported to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) Jameson Hospital for treatment. Due to the severity of her condition, she was later airlifted to UPMC Children’s Hospital. Unfortunately, the child succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead on June 29.
An autopsy performed on June 30 determined that the victim’s cause of death was “acetone poisoning” resulting in organ failure. Medical experts who examined the baby’s body concluded that she had been exposed to acetone “just before her hospitalization,” the DA said.
The investigation into Iris’ death was led by the DA’s office and the New Castle Police Department.
Detectives say they determined that in the months leading up to Iris being fatally poisoned, Owens “had conducted web searches on her cellphone” which “ultimately led to the child’s death.”
“From February to June, Owens repeatedly searched for information on household products that could cause a child serious harm or death, including water beads, batteries, and nail polish,” the DA wrote in the release. “Searches included phrases such as, ‘beauty products that are poisonous to kids’ and ‘medications leading to cause accidental poisoning deaths in children.””
Owens also searched for “water beads near me,” “what happens when someone drinks acetone,” “poisoniness (sic) products to babies,” and “medications leading to cause accidental poisoning deaths in children,” according to court documents obtained by Pittsburgh ABC affiliate WTAE.
Additionally, months before Iris died, she was reportedly hospitalized after “ingesting multiple harmful objects, including about 20 water beads, batteries, and a metal screw.”
New Castle Police Chief Robert Salem described what detectives found to WTAE.
“There was a lot of searches on her phone for a lot of different ways with harming a child. Both the water beads and the batteries prior to the baby ingesting those,” he told the station. “And then the baby, you end up in the hospital with the water beads in the batteries. And there were searches afterwards with acetone. The effects of acetone on a baby prior to the baby getting sick from the acetone.”
Iris’ family took aim at Owens and Iris’ father in a statement posted to Facebook.
“We understand the supporters of these monsters being in disbelief that their friend/family members are so insanely evil. They will be lashing out against each other and Iris’ loving family,” the statement said, per The Daily Beast. “Please keep in mind the [police] took 196 days to make this arrest so that every detail was thoroughly investigated and no errors were made. The facts are the facts and their reality is shocking. These evil monster did not just take Iris’ life, devastate her loving family but also ruined their families lives.”
A GoFundMe for Iris’ family can be found here.
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