FORT WORTH WOMAN WHO GAVE METHADONE TO SON RECEIVES JAIL SENTENCE

FORT WORTH -- A recovering heroin addict whose 12- year-old son died after
she gave him methadone to treat a stomach ache and help him sleep was
sentenced to 16 months in jail yesterday.

Before pleading for leniency from District Judge Robert Gill, Arlington
resident Karen Tucker described her decision to give methadone to her son,
Trey, as a "tragic mistake."

Tucker, 40, sobbed as she explained that she did not realize that the
opium-based drug, which is used to treat heroin addiction, could kill her son.

"He felt terrible, and I loved him," she said at the probation revocation
hearing. "I didn't want to see him like that. ... To me it was no different
than giving my mother cough syrup with my name on it."

Tucker said she gave her son two small doses of the drug during a three-day
period because he had a stomach ache, was throwing up and could not sleep.
The Patterson Elementary School student died in his sleep and was found in
his bed on the morning of March 17.

Trey's death initially puzzled investigators. At 5 feet 6 inches tall and
237 pounds, he was overweight but otherwise had no health problems. Within
three weeks, medical investigators found traces of methadone in his system
and alerted police.

Methadone is a synthetic drug distributed through drug treatment clinics to
wean addicts from dependence on heroin. Proponents say it allows addicts to
lead productive lives while softening the effects of heroin addiction.

Addicts who use methadone pick up a dose each day from clinics, and two
doses are handed out on Saturdays to carry them through the weekend. The
daily visits are designed to prevent addicts from stockpiling the drugs or
selling them.

Tucker said that she could not recall how she was able to give two doses to
her son within three days but that she sometimes took heroin instead of
taking her Sunday supply of methadone.

After ingesting the drug, Trey apparently fell asleep on his bed, face down
on his pillow. He was unable to turn over and suffocated, according to
medical reports, which list the cause of death as asphyxiation.

Tucker was on probation for a previous drug offense.

Before revoking her probation Gill asked her repeatedly how she could have
thought that her action was responsible.

Her probation was revoked because she pleaded guilty to providing a
controlled substance to a child. Tucker has also been indicted on a charge
of manslaughter stemming from the incident. That case is pending.

"It is a horrible as well as criminal error in judgment," Gill said. "This
wasn't only a violation of the law but also contrary to all common sense."

Tucker told Gill that the family had no over-the-counter medication nor any
money to buy any because "we were addicts and we didn't have money."

Tucker said that she has been taking methadone for 2 1/2 years and that she
stopped taking it Friday. Her husband told Gill that he is also a
recovering addict and is taking methadone.

Several relatives, friends and the pastor of the south Arlington church
that the family attends testified on Tucker's behalf during the hearing.

"She's a good person, a good wife," said her husband, Charles Tucker Jr.

"She loves her children. She didn't think she was breaking any laws when
she gave her son medicine."

Tucker's attorney, Travis Young, also asked Gill for leniency.

"She's already suffered and been punished," he said. "I don't think the
victim in this would want to see his mother go to prison."

After the boy's death, a Child Protective Services caseworker investigated
the family. Caseworkers offered counseling and parenting classes but did
not remove the couple's two daughters, CPS officials said.

Trey's death had a dramatic impact on his classmates at Patterson
Elementary School, who remembered him as an avid reader with a passion for
science classes, Principal Lynda Ives said.

During a memorial service for Trey at the school, one student approached
the lectern, then regretfully detailed how children -- including himself --
had teased Trey because he was overweight. Students planted an oak tree on
the school grounds in his memory. School officials also purchased some
books and a computer CD- ROM program in his name, and his parents gave some
of Trey's favorite books to the school library.

Robert Tharp, (817) 548-5420 Send your comments to tharp@star-telegram.com

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski