A man in South Fulton, Georgia, was sentenced to 50 years behind bars for attempting to kill his newborn daughter by poisoning breast milk with antifreeze, officials said.
Curtis Jack had been in a “intimate relationship” with the baby’s mother since January 2020 and had previously “insisted” she have an abortion, according to the City of South Fulton Police Department. On Oct. 1, 2020, Jack tampered with bottles of breast milk he had picked up from the mother, who was also his coworker and had been hospitalized after giving birth on September 24, police said.
Jack delivered the bottles to the baby’s grandmother, who was caring for the newborn along with the woman’s other child. Within the day, the baby became “critically ill” and was suspected of being poisoned, according to police.
South Fulton police said the newborn was just 18 days old at the time and had suffered “serious injuries.” Authorities said the baby was taken to a nearby children’s hospital, where she tested positive for ethylene glycol, a “chemical often found in automotive antifreeze,” People reported.
During the investigation, police identified Jack as a suspect, a warrant was obtained, and he was accused of a criminal attempt to commit murder and cruelty to children in the first degree.
“Jack admitted to adding antifreeze to the breastmilk to South Fulton Police Department detectives,” South Fulton police said.
Jack’s trial for the attempted murder of his daughter, who is now three years old, included 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,” police said.
The jury rendered a guilty verdict for all charges, police announced on April 11, and sentenced him to 50 years in prison, 40 of which he will serve in custody.
