Granite City mom sentenced for letting toddler overdose on fentanyl and meth

A Granite City mother was sentenced to a year and a half in jail for allowing her young son to ingest fentanyl and methamphetamine while she overdosed in her bathroom.

Billie Jean Cottle, 26, pleaded guilty to endangering her child and aggravated battery with a controlled substance. With her plea deal, charges of reckless conduct causing great bodily harm and aggravated battery of a child under 13 were dismissed. She was sentenced recently to 576 days in jail, and two years of probation. She received credit for days already served in jail.

Her then-17-month-old son, Aries, was found unresponsive in the bathroom with Cottle in July 2017. First responders had to use Narcan, an anti-narcotic treatment used to revive those who overdose, on the child several times before he responded.

The boy was taken to a hospital and treated for methamphetamine and fentanyl intoxication.

At the time of Cottle's arrest, Madison County Sheriff John Lakin said it was disturbing that the child had overdosed on the two drugs.

Cottle was screened to see if she would be eligible for drug court, an alternative program generally reserved for nonviolent offenders, but her transfer request was denied.

David Garcia, Aries' father, wrote a letter to the court pleading for Cottle to be allowed to take part in the drug court.

“Billie may be a lot of things, but I know for a fact she didn’t give my son Aries drugs on purpose,” Garcia wrote. “Billie has been struggling with addiction for a while now ... I beg for mercy from the courts to help Billie instead of treating her like she’s a harder criminal ... She’s a smart person who has made a bad — a very bad — mistake.”

In another letter to the court, Cottle wrote that she was "fully committed to make these changes of being sober and living life the right way for myself and my babies ... I definitely agree I need to go to residential rehab.”

This story was originally published June 7, 2018 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Granite City mom sentenced for letting toddler overdose on fentanyl and meth."