The parents of a 6-year-old child face charges after he died from a Benadryl overdose.
According to a news release from the Spartanburg County Sheriff’s Office, on Oct. 30, 2022, deputies responded to a home on Lamplighter Drive in Greer after receiving a call for assistance regarding an unresponsive male child. The parents of the child reportedly told authorities he “fell out of a recliner, hit his head on a hard floor, and suffered a seizure.”
The Sheriff’s Office said the child was transported to a local hospital, and the staff “informed deputies before they left that the victim’s prognosis was grim.” The child died later that day, and an investigation was launched.
Officials reportedly served a search warrant at the child’s home and discovered the victim was living in “filthy conditions,” and there were past child abuse allegations within the family. An autopsy later revealed the child suffered bruising in “various stages of healing,” and he died from a Benadryl overdose. The child weighed 45 pounds, yet he “had enough Benadryl in his system to kill an adult male,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
The child’s parents, Sarah Stewart, 32, and Christopher Stewart, 48, reportedly admitted to authorities that Sarah gave the child Benadryl “because he was hyperactive.”
Sarah Stewart was arrested and charged with homicide by child abuse and unlawful neglect of a child, and Christopher Stewart was arrested on a charge of unlawful neglect of a child.
Sarah Stewart remains held in the Spartanburg County Jail without bond, while Christopher Stewart remains in custody on a $10,000 bond.