S.I. Girl Almost Ate PB&J Sandwich With Painkiller Inside

An innocent afternoon snack of PB&J could have turned tragic for a little girl in Staten Island last week.

Now her mom, Denise Manzella of Naso Court, is facing child endangerment charges after her three-year-old daughter accidentally handed over a peanut butter and jelly sandwich containing the painkiller oxycodone to a young female neighbor on April 21, reported the Staten Island Advance.

Before the neighbor was able to take a bite, the girl's grandmother Margaret Gutzan inspected the sandwich because the girl has peanut allergies, when she discovered the two pills inside. Gutzan immediately called her daughter to come home. Gutzan's daughter then spoke with Manzella, 28, and thereafter called the police, reported the Advance.

“It was a simple accident. It was my fault. It wasn’t carelessness on my part, it was an accident on my part,” Manzella told the Advance.

The incident occurred when prosecutors and police said Manzella told them she left the pills on the microwave in the midst of picking up her two daughters ages three and five from the bus stop earlier, reported the Advance.

Manzella then said her daughters distracted her from taking the pills and wanted to go in their backyard to play, where she decided to make sandwiches for the neighbors as well.

Manzella said her daughters wanted to help with the sandwiches and allowed the three-year-old to spread jelly, when the five-year-old called Manzella to the bathroom.

Prosecutors said Manzella told them her daughter put the pills in a sandwich specially made for Manzella but that piece landed on the plate with the other sandwiches that eventually got into the hands of Gutzan and her granddaughters ages three and seven, reported the Advance.

“I was blindsided by this,” she told the Advance. However, Manzella empathized with her neighbors for calling the authorities. “I’m a mother. I would do the same thing. I understand where they’re coming from.”

Fifteen milligrams of Oxycodone, which is a time-release pill is among the medications Manzella takes to treat a bladder infection and past injuries stemming from domestic violence and an automobile accident when she was a child, reported the Advance.
 
Manzella was arrested on April 22, after lab results tested the pills for being a controlled substance, William J. Smith, spokesman for Staten Island District Attorney Daniel Donovan told NBCNewYork.

The Staten Island mother was arraigned on two counts of endangering the welfare of a minor in Stapleton Criminal Court two days later because she was hospitalized for having a "nervous breakdown," reported the Advance.

Released on her own recognizance, Manzella is due back in court on Sept. 13.

NBCNewYork is awaiting comment from Manzella's lawyer Richard Kopacz and the New York Police Department.
 

Contact Us