HOUSTON – A Houston woman took out two life insurance policies for her 6-year-old son before giving him lethal doses of medication and over-the-counter drugs that caused him terrifying hallucinations before he died, prosecutors said Thursday.
Harris County District Attorneys allege Ashley Marks repeatedly drugged her son in June.
Marks, 25, has been charged with capital murder and has been detained without commitment. No lawyer was listed for her in the court records.
An autopsy decided the boy’s death was murder after finding toxic amounts of methamphetamine and cocaine, as well as various antihistamines, according to court records.
The boy’s grandfather told Houston police that after Marks gave her son medication, the boy began to hallucinate “believing his clothes contained insects” and that court documents said his grandson was “afraid of his hallucinations.”
The grandfather, Adam Marks, told police after telling his daughter that her son had hallucinated after taking his medicine, she told him to give him more. He told police that according to court records, he failed to do so. The boy and his sister were living with their grandfather at the time of his death.
Adam Marks told police that his daughter gave her son Nyquil more medicine a few hours before he died, police said. According to the manufacturer, Nyquil should not be given to children under 12 years of age.
Investigators said they found out that Ashley Marks had two life insurance policies for her son, valued at $ 50,000 each, and that she was the only beneficiary according to court documents. The guidelines were finalized about a month before the boy’s death. Marks is a licensed insurance agent, police said.
The Associated Press
