Woman Pleads Guilty to Felony Homicide of Infant Granddaughter After Adding Adult Prescription Medicine to Baby Bottle in 2024

NORFOLK, Va. — Alvetta Juanita Haskins, 51, pleaded guilty on Oct. 30 to felony homicide after she fed her infant grandchild adult prescription medication, causing the baby’s death, in 2024.

On April 21, 2024, Ms. Haskins was babysitting her grandchildren, including the victim, her 3-month-old granddaughter. At some point, Ms. Haskins added her prescription antipsychotic medication as well as cough syrup into her granddaughter’s baby bottle and fed it to her. While it remains unclear why she did so, it appears that she did so to quiet the baby. After midnight on April 22, Ms. Haskins called 911 to report that the baby was unresponsive. Paramedics took the baby to the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, where she was later pronounced dead.

Before her death, the baby had shown no signs of distress or illness. An autopsy was performed the same day of her death, and while the doctors initially believed her cause of death to have been unsafe sleep, subsequent post-mortem toxicology testing determined the baby’s cause of death to have been an overdose of the prescription medication Seroquel, used to treat mood disorders. Ms. Haskins had a prescription for that medication, and she admitted to police that she had put some of it into the baby’s bottle and had also given the baby over-the-counter cold remedies on the night of her death. Based on the blood-toxicology results and Ms. Haskins’s statements, in January 2025 the police charged Ms. Haskins with second-degree murder.

On Oct. 29, Ms. Haskins entered an agreement to plead guilty to an amended charge of felony homicide — which is defined as an unintentional killing incidental to another felonious act (such as child neglect) — and face an active sentence not to exceed the midpoint of her state sentencing guidelines, which will be calculated in advance of her sentencing. Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise accepted Ms. Haskins’s plea agreement, found her guilty of the amended charge, and set her sentencing hearing on Feb. 20, 2026.

“Ms. Haskins did something incredibly dangerous: give antipsychotic medication to a three-month-old baby. Babies are not adults, and they should never be given prescription medication except by a doctor’s order,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “Had her granddaughter lived, the proper charge against Ms. Haskins would have been felony child neglect, but since her granddaughter died, the proper charge is felony homicide. Anyone who takes responsibility for watching children, especially babies, must do so with care and must face the consequences if they engage in dangerous behavior such as this.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Kolp and Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Alexander Rosenberg are prosecuting Ms. Haskins’s case, and Norfolk Police Detectives Kavoris J. Fruster led the investigation.

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