DRUGS ARE AGAIN TIED TO DEATH IN FAMILY

A Mother Whose Child Drowned While She Was Passed Out On Drugs Dies Of An
Apparent Overdose

SPRING HILL - The Spring Hill woman whose 2-year-old son drowned in March
while she was passed out after bingeing on crack cocaine and alcohol died
Sunday of an apparent drug overdose, authorities said.

Kristen Carey, 29, was found Sunday lying face up on the bedroom floor of
her home by her husband, James Carey, 33, said sheriff's spokesman Capt.
Alan Arick.

Carey told investigators that he called 911 about 10 a.m. Sunday when he
discovered that his wife was not breathing. She was taken to Spring Hill
Regional Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

An initial investigation revealed no signs of physical trauma to Carey's
body, Arick said. An investigation is under way to determine the cause of
death, he added. He said James Carey told detectives that his wife had been
using heroin over the weekend.

Noah Carey drowned on March 26 after he managed to get out of his locked
first-floor bedroom and crept into the couple's swimming pool, authorities
said.

Kristen Carey was charged with manslaughter after she told detectives that
at the time her son drowned she was passed out on an upstairs couch after
consuming large amounts of alcohol and drugs.

A distraught Kristen Carey told detectives that she and a friend, Paul
Mercak, had drunk five to six bottles of beer and smoked as many as six
pieces of crack cocaine on each of the four days leading up to Noah's
drowning. Each time, she said, she locked the toddler in his room.

Records show that about a month after the drowning, authorities again were
dispatched to the Careys' split-level home at 232 Cobblestone Drive on a
domestic disturbance call.

In that incident, Kristen Carey was arrested and charged with domestic
violence after her husband, a long-haul truck driver, said she had bitten
and scratched him. She was released after posting bail.

According to arrest reports, James Carey told authorities that he had been
concerned about his wife's well-being after the loss of their son and had
tried to keep her from leaving the house.

Kristen Carey had attempted suicide twice since the loss of her son, the
report said, and was taking drugs when she struck her husband.

James Carey could not be reached for comment Monday.