A 5-year-old girl who died in January while in her grandmother's care had prescription drugs promethazine and amiodarone in her blood, according to an affidavit filed along with murder charges against the grandmother.
Hilda Daves, 49, was formally charged this week in Clark County Circuit Court with first-degree murder, criminal attempt to commit first-degree murder and first-degree battery, all felonies. She remained in the Clark County jail Friday in lieu of $500,000 bond. Her arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday.
The Clark County sheriff's office received a 911 call about 2 p.m. Jan. 17 that Daves was at her home at 2640 Arkansas 84 east of Amity, where she had poisoned her 5-year-old granddaughter and 6-year-old grandson and was suicidal, according to an affidavit signed by Arkansas State Police Special Agent David Rider.
Clark County Sheriff Jason Watson said Friday the 911 call was made by Daves' husband, Odie Daves.
Odie Daves told police during the call that he was on his way to CHI St. Vincent in Hot Springs with the grandson and that the granddaughter remained at home and was possibly dead, the affidavit said.
Amity police went to the home, where they broke in and found Hilda Daves with what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound, the affidavit said. A rifle was found on the floor nearby. The grandmother and granddaughter were taken to CHI St. Vincent, where the girl was pronounced dead.
The boy was airlifted to Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, where he was treated and later released.
The affidavit said Hilda Daves admitted to killing the girl and that she had planned to commit suicide.
Watson would not say where Daves was shot, citing the ongoing investigation, but said the severity of her injuries required her to remain in the hospital about three weeks.
The grandson told investigators that Hilda Daves "had made beverages for the children in cups that he described to the interviewer." The affidavit said cups matching the description given by the child were found at the residence, along with prescription bottles labeled as having contained promethazine, which is commonly used to treat nausea.
A toxicological screening of the boy's urine at Children's Hospital found promethazine in his system, the affidavit said. A screening of the girl's blood determined she had promethazine and amiodarone in her system.
Howell Foster, a clinical toxicologist and director of the Arkansas Poison and Drug Information Center at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, said amiodarone is prescribed for people who have chronic arrhythmia, or an abnormal heartbeat.
"It's a very serious, hard-hitting drug with lots of side effects," Foster said.
Someone who took too much of it could experience an extremely slow heartbeat, low blood pressure and become lethargic, he said.
"The heart would get to where it just wouldn't beat in a coordinated fashion and get to the point where it would cease to pump any blood," Foster said. "This drug would be very dangerous in high doses. It's not used willy-nilly ... you usually have to fail multiple other agents before you'd even get put on this.
"It's a pretty serious drug."
Promethazine, Foster said, could cause a patient's temperature and heart rate to rise unusually high. It's not used to treat small children because of the risk of extremely slowed breathing.
State Desk on 03/05/2016