An Indianapolis grandma, Tasha Mulcahy, is facing numerous criminal charges for allegedly overdosing her 2-year-old grandson, Amani Day,, who died in October last year.
In January 2023, Amani Day’s mother died after suffering from an overdose, which made the 47-year-old grandmother, Tasha Mulcahy, the primary caregiver of two minors, including Day and his elder sister.
On October 23, 2023, Day was found unresponsive despite the grandmother stating that he slept normally the night before but was suffering from extreme cold in the morning, adding that his body was also stiff, and he vomited on his pillow during the night.
Mulcahy further stated that she was the only person who slept with Day on the decisive night.
As she saw the child unresponsive in the morning, she started performing CPR on him while Day’s father gave him Narcan, a medicine generally used to reverse opioid overdoses. Both of them failed to rescue the child.
Later on, the Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Child Abuse Unit reached the scene to investigate the matter and found that the grandmother was possibly intoxicated as she appeared unreasonably tired and sluggish during her conversation with the police. The police noted that Mulcahy’s conduct was far from normal during the initial investigation.
Meanwhile, the grandmother stated that she consumed marijuana before sleeping and took the medication to deal with the panic disorder only after finding Amani in an unresponsive condition.
However, Mulcahy’s drug test told a different story as she was tested positive on various drugs, including marijuana, methamphetamine, amphetamines, opioids, and buprenorphine, as well as her panic control medications.
Day’s dead body was sent for an autopsy, which revealed that he died from consuming fentanyl that was possibly present in the purse belonging to the grandmother, containing different drugs like methamphetamine, magic mushrooms, and Alprazolam. Mulcahy later admitted that she used methamphetamine and that the purse was present next to Day when he went to sleep.
She now faces multiple charges, including level 1 felony charges, that could send her to prison for up to 40 years. These charges were brought against Mulcahy in February, almost four months after Day’s death and she was eventually arrested on March 16, after which she paid $5,000 of bail and was released for home detention.
An attorney conference on August 27 is expected to bring the latest developments in the case where the jury trial is yet to begin.
