An apartment house at 26 Oak St. in Oakland is shown in November. A woman living in an apartment there called 911 Nov. 2 when her 14-month-old son suffered a medical emergency, Maine State Police said. The child later died at a hospital. The woman, Ashley Malloy, was indicted Thursday by a Kennebec County grand jury on charges that include manslaughter. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel file
An Oakland woman was indicted Thursday by a Kennebec County grand jury on charges of manslaughter and aggravated trafficking in drugs about four months after her toddler suffered an apparent medical emergency and died at a hospital.
Ashley Malloy, 21, of 26 Oak St., Apt. 2, recklessly or with criminal negligence caused the death of 14-month-old Karson Malloy on or about Nov. 2, according to the indictment. It also charges her with aggravated trafficking in fentanyl powder, methamphetamine and cocaine base, as well as furnishing or intending to furnish, in exchange for drugs, $2,262 that was found in her apartment.
The cause of Karson Malloy’s death is not being divulged. A man who answered the phone Friday at the state Office of Chief Medical Examiner in Augusta said the cause of death is being withheld by request of the Office of the State Attorney General.
Maine State Police said last November that police investigating the toddler’s death found fentanyl, crack cocaine and other illicit drugs in the Oakland apartment where the child lived with his mother. After Ashley Malloy called 911 that day to report her son was having a medical emergency, he was taken to Northern Light Inland Hospital in Waterville where he was pronounced dead, state police said at the time.
Investigators subsequently obtained a search warrant for the Oak Street apartment where Karson lived with his mother and found more than 5 pounds of fentanyl, more than a pound of crack, methamphetamine and about $2,200 in cash, police said at the time. The street value of the drugs was estimated at $700,000.
Malloy was charged with aggravated drug trafficking and later released on bond.
Shannon Moss, a state police spokeswoman, said in a release at the time that detectives were working with the Medical Examiner’s Office to determine the cause of Karson’s death.
An email Friday to a spokeswoman for the Attorney General’s Office, Nicole Sacre, seeking additional information was not returned.
Ashley Malloy’s attorney, John Pelletier, said Friday that the Attorney General’s Office informed him Thursday of the manslaughter indictment and he then told Malloy.
“I do want to say that Ashley loved Karson very much and she’s extremely distraught about his loss,” Pelletier said.
He said it is important for people to remember that “an indictment is simply a charge that has yet to be proven in court.”
Asked if he could say how the child died, Pelletier said he has no information about the case from the Attorney General’s Office, so he cannot comment on the appropriateness of a manslaughter charge.
“Based on my experience, however, I suspect that this is an unusual charge in this type of circumstance,” he said, “and Ashley and I are prepared to pursue every avenue to defend not only the manslaughter charge, but the other charges in the indictment as well.”
Pelletier said Malloy, who is not incarcerated, will be issued a court date for an arraignment, which is the next step in the case.
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