Convicted Georgia father admitted to poisoning his newborn’s breastmilk to avoid paying child support

A Georgia father, who admitted to poisoning his 18-day-old daughter by mixing her breastmilk with antifreeze, was on Thursday sentenced to 50 years in prison. According to NBC News, the incident is said to have occurred four years ago.

The convicted man, identified as Curtis Jack, is said to have taken the bottles of breastmilk from his newborn daughter’s mother after she gave birth, authorities said, adding that she had been admitted to the hospital at the time.

Jack was ultimately arrested in October 2020 after his daughter fell sick and ethylene glycol was found in her system. The chemical is an ingredient in automotive antifreeze and coolant. Per poisonhelp.org, ethylene glycol is “extremely toxic, even when small amounts are swallowed.” Symptoms after swallowing include drowsiness, vomiting, kidney damage, and death.

“After delivering the breastmilk to the child’s grandmother, who was also caring for the woman’s other daughter, the child became critically ill within 24 hours, suspected of being poisoned. Jack admitted to adding antifreeze to the breastmilk to South Fulton Police Department detectives,” police said in a statement.

Authorities said Jack admitted to poisoning his newborn daughter as he did not want to pay child support, NBC News reported. WJCL also reported that Jack had initially wanted his daughter’s mother to abort the pregnancy.

“During the trial, the State presented testimonies from the child’s mother, grandmother, law enforcement officers, and medical experts, including a demonstration of how easy it was to poison the breastmilk,” South Fulton police said.