A Georgia father has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for poisoning his infant daughter by spiking her breastmilk with antifreeze to avoid paying child support. The child survived, however.
Curtis Jack, of South Fulton, admitted to investigators that he picked up bottles of breastmilk from the baby’s mother while she was still hospitalized after the pregnancy, and carried out his plan because he did not want to pay child support.
“After delivering the breastmilk to the child’s grandmother, who was also caring for the woman’s other daughter, the child became critically ill within 24 hours, suspected of being poisoned. Jack admitted to adding antifreeze to the breastmilk to South Fulton Police Department detectives,” police said in a statement on Facebook.
The incident occurred on Oct. 1, 2020, and Jack was arrested weeks later after his daughter grew sick and tested positive for ethylene glycol, a chemical commonly found in antifreeze.
“During the trial, the State presented testimonies from the child’s mother, grandmother, law enforcement officers, and medical experts, including a demonstration of how easy it was to poison the breastmilk,” South Fulton police added.
The girl, who was just 18-days-old when the attempted murder took place, was ultimately able to recover and is now three years old.
Police said that Jack and the girl’s mother had originally been co-workers, and began a romantic relationship in Jan. 2020. Before her pregnancy, he had allegedly insisted that she receive an abortion.
On Thursday, a jury found Jack guilty on all counts, which resulted in a 50-year sentence, 40 of which he’s expected to serve in custody.
