Mother charged after allegedly giving toddler fatal dose of medication

A Monessen mother is charged with involuntary manslaughter after police say she gave her 16-month-old daughter a fatal dose of allergy medication.

The little girl died in December, but it wasn’t until experts at the UPMC Poison Control Center said the baby died from an overdose of allergy medication that police filed the charges and arrested Ashley Gallatin.

Gallatin, 30, was walked into court Thursday to be arraigned on charges of involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children.

Police say Gallatin gave her 16-month-old daughter a fatal dose of allergy medication in December.

We talked to neighbors who remember that day.

“Yeah, it was like devastating for the family,” said a woman who did not want to be identified. “It still is. And then to see all that yesterday was crazy.”

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She saw police arrest Gallatin on Wednesday, but believes the baby’s death was an accident.

“She seemed like a wonderful mom, the whole family seems wonderful,” the woman said.

Gallatin allegedly told police that the baby and her twin sister had been sick with colds for several days.

Police said she denied giving the twins Benadryl, but a toxicology report showed the child died as a result of an inappropriately high dose of the drug diphenhydramine, which is in Benadryl.

Neighbors say Gallatin has four or five other children. Gallatin’s husband was home today but did not want to speak with us.

“Of course, nobody knows what goes on behind closed doors, but I wanna hope it’s a mistake,” the neighbor said.

Police seized 13 different over-the-counter medications from the home, according to the criminal complaint.

Cox Media Group