TV reporters Krystin Lisaius and Somchai Lisaius pleaded guilty to a felony count of endangerment on Wednesday, August 31, after Krystin breast-fed their baby with cocaine in her system in May.
According to the Associated Press, the Arizona-based pair face up to two years in prison or probation. The original charges of drug use and child abuse were dropped.
Krystin, 26, and Somchai, 42, previously pleaded not guilty on Monday, June 27, on charges of possession of a dangerous drug, drug paraphernalia and child abuse, and Somchai even initially denied that he used cocaine, according to a police report obtained by the Arizona Daily Star. He later admitted he used the drug about “every six weeks or so.”
The trouble began on May 14, when the couple both snorted cocaine while at a barbecue with friends in their Oro Valley home, the police report states. Krystin breast-fed their then-4-month-old daughter 12 hours later, and the infant became lethargic and had to be rushed to the hospital.
According to the police report, the worried parents told doctors their child was “limp” and “ragdoll-like’ and was “unable to wake up.” Doctors later discovered that the baby girl had cocaine in her system.
On Wednesday, August 31, News Channel 10 reports that Pima County Superior Court Judge Howard Fell asked the pair directly, “You both agree that your behavior was reckless by using cocaine and then knowingly — you, of course, Ms. Lisaius — breast-feeding the child the next morning, that constituted endangering the child, recklessly endangering her?”
The couple’s lawyer, Mike Piccarreta, told the judge that his clients are trying to set things right.
“They’ve been going through regular drug testing. They’ve been going through parenting classes,” he said, according to News Channel 10. “They have gone through counseling. … Anytime anyone even hints they want something done, they step up and do it.”
Krystin and Somchai tied the knot in Mexico in 2014; their baby is currently in the care of her maternal grandmother, according to the AP.
