Prosecutor: Oregon mom used pot the day child died

Published 12:55 pm Tuesday, October 28, 2014

SALEM, Ore. — A prosecutor says a 23-year-old woman whose 4-year-old son died in an apartment fire last week had used marijuana that day.

The woman, Niya Breann Sosa-Martinez, escaped Friday’s fire. But Andre Joaquin Sosa died of smoke inhalation.

KATU-TV reported the mother has been charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a minor.

In court Monday, prosecutor Katie Suver argued that the mother should be held without bail.

Suver cited a history of marijuana use, including what she called “the use of marijuana by the defendant’s admission on the day that her child passed away.”

Sosa-Martinez also was on probation for a child neglect case.

The judge denied bail, and Sosa-Martinez is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 5.

The cause of the fire has not been determined.