Left: Lauren Henckel (Payne County Jail). Caden Reed Sanchez (Dighton Marler Funeral Home).
Lauren Henckel has been accused of failing as a mother since basically the beginning of her son’s life. When he was 10 months old, he was reportedly found in dirty diapers inside a house in disarray. As the boy grew older, she allegedly left him alone for weeks and allowed him to do drugs and drink alcohol. At 15, she found him unresponsive in their home, and he later died of a fentanyl overdose.
Now Henckel, 44, is behind bars facing a child neglect charge in connection to his death.
“It seemed he never really had a chance in life,” Stillwater Police Lt. TJ Low told Oklahoma City CBS affiliate KWTV.
According to the criminal complaint, there were 22 referrals to Oklahoma‘s Department of Human Services over concerns about her treatment of her son, Caden Reed Sanchez.
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“Most of the allegations have alleged drug use in the home, filthy living conditions, lack of supervision, domestic violence in the house, and concern for the welfare of [Caden],” the complaint said.
On Dec. 2, 2023, the Stillwater Police Department responded to a drug overdose at a home in the 1800 block of North Boomer. When officers and paramedics arrived, Henckel led them to Caden’s bedroom, where they found him unresponsive in his bed. First responders rushed him to the hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead three days later. Cops found “cut straws” in Caden’s room along with several empty alcohol bottles, the affidavit said. The straws are commonly used to ingest fentanyl.
According to the affidavit, Henckel has been addicted to drugs for most of Caden’s life. When Caden was 10, he told DHS investigators his mother would go into town to buy drugs and refused to go to the doctor because she was afraid she would test positive for methamphetamine. About a year later, a caller reportedly contacted DHS with concerns that Caden had not had “food or utilities at his house in three months so he stays with friends.” Meanwhile, Henckel was “couch surfing” with friends, cops wrote.
The day after her son’s death, Henckel showed up at the Stillwater police station and spoke with detectives. She said she left Caden at their home on Dec. 1, 2023, to do drugs with friends. Henckel returned home shortly after midnight but was locked out, and Caden wasn’t answering texts. She reportedly told cops she entered through a window and found Caden unresponsive in his bed. She then ran to a neighbor’s house for help, the affidavit said. During the interview, detectives noted it was “obvious” she was under the influence of meth.
“During our conversation Laura had no visible signs of distress and did not show any emotion while talking about [Caden’s] death,” the affidavit said.
Henckel also told investigators she “knows” her son uses marijuana, ecstasy and has experimented with meth, cops wrote.
The School Resource Officer at Caden’s school, his girlfriend and a neighbor painted a picture of Caden’s life to investigators. The SRO reportedly described Caden’s school attendance as “atrocious,” saying he went to class so infrequently that he was considered a dropout. His girlfriend of four months said he often did not have any food, has “zero supervision, is allowed to do anything he wants, and is not made to attend school,” cops wrote. She also said Caden “was allowed to drink alcohol almost every day” and Henckel often buys him booze and marijuana, the affidavit said.
Per cops, the girlfriend said Henckel gave her “several conflicting stories” about Caden’s overdose and how she found him. The girlfriend also said that Caden had allegedly been hanging out with known drug dealers. A neighbor also told cops she often saw Henkel high on meth, and Caden was always hungry because he didn’t have anything to eat.
An autopsy determined Caden’s cause of death to be fentanyl intoxication. Police issued an arrest warrant for Henckel in April for child neglect, and she was arrested late last month. Her next court date is scheduled for next month. She remains at the Payne County Jail on a $100,000 bond.
“Throughout my investigation it was obvious [Caden] was unsupervised and allowed to use illegal substances inside his residence,” Det. Josh Carson wrote.
DHS, in a statement to KWTV, called the situation a “profound tragedy” but said it was limited in what it could say about the case other than the agency was working with law enforcement.
Low said while the situation is tragic, it could have been prevented.
“Everybody gets addicted to one thing or another. Unfortunately, it took the life of somebody it didn’t need to,” he told the TV station.
According to his obituary, he enjoyed basketball, music and hanging out at the lake.
“He loved,” the obituary said. “And all he wanted so badly was to be loved and accepted — mostly by his mom and dad.”
