'I'll regret it forever,' says WF mom sentenced to four months in jail in death of 4-day-old son

 When Reanne Pederson laid down to breastfeed her son for the last time on June 13, she hadn’t slept for more than two hours at a stretch in the four days since he’d been born. Avery’s birth was a fast delivery – only six hours – and afterward her doctor prescribed the painkiller hydrocodone. But instead of swallowing the pills, this time Pederson snorted her prescription.  The pills made her wide-awake, not sleepy, said Pederson, so she figured it was OK. It wasn’t. “I’m not this monster that people have made me out to be,” Pederson said on the phone from a drug rehab facility months after Avery’s death. “I’d really like to start grieving.” Pederson will spend the next four months behind bars. She was sentenced Monday to three years in prison with all but six months suspended after entering an open plea to Class C felony negligent homicide in November. She’s already served two months of her jail term. Court documents say Pederson snorted hydrocodone just before breast-feeding Avery on June 13. She fell asleep and found Avery unresponsive when she woke up. He died the next day. She initially thought she had smothered him, she told police. But, to this day, it’s unclear how the baby died. Pederson, who calls herself a recreational drug user rather than an addict, doesn’t think her child’s death could have been foreseen. She didn’t take more than the prescribed amount, and she didn’t think it would make her sleepy, she said. “I had him for four days,” she said, choking back tears. “He was a lot of work, but he was amazing.” She used to be a regular marijuana user, but she gave it up for good when her first child was born 11 years ago, she said. She had a full-time job with a loved and expected baby on the way. A photo of her older son and daughter, posing with an expectant Pederson, bore pride of place on her Facebook page in the months preceding Avery’s June birth. “Big brother, big sister,” said their hand-lettered chalkboard signs. “Summer, 2014.” But court records painted a different image of Pederson to prosecutors. Pederson admitted smoking meth with two friends in the days before she gave birth to Avery, one of whom passed that information on to investigating officers. “I felt bad immediately after I did it,” Pederson said, but she doesn’t think she consumed the drug in high-enough doses to hurt Avery. “If it was done in higher doses, it would be.” The baby’s autopsy showed he had no hydrocodone in his system, Mottinger said. Cass County prosecutor Leah Viste acknowledged Pederson didn’t mean to hurt her baby. But a doctor told police that snorting hydrocodone would substantially heighten its effect on the user, making Pederson drowsy and dizzy, and interfering with her breathing. “Exhaustion may have played a role, but we’ll never know if that was it,” Viste said. Her attorney, Steve Mottinger, told the court that Pederson was kicked out of the Robinson Recovery Center rehab program, but not for using drugs. “Sometimes people think they can do things on their own,” he told The Forum. While Mottinger believes Pederson is aware she has a drug addiction, Judge Frank Racek does not. Citing her past drunken driving convictions, her failed rehab attempt, her lost job and the loss of custody of her two older children in this case, Racek denied Pederson’s request for probation rather than jail time.  “She does not view her chemical dependency as the cause of her problems, yet at every fork in the road … chemical dependency seems to be a large part of the chaos,” he said. While the judge gave her credit for her two months in rehab, he denied her request to treat her case as a misdemeanor by disposition, leaving a three-year sentence hanging over her head if she fails to complete the terms of her probation, which may include drug treatment. Pederson cried again as she addressed the judge in court. “If I could take it all back, I would,” she said. “I lost my son and anything anyone can do to me doesn’t compare.” While leaving the courtroom, Mottinger repeated his belief that Pederson is ready to face her drug demons. “Sometimes you need to fall down before you can stand. Addiction’s that way,” he said. “There’s no guarantee anyone’s going to make it.”
 When Reanne Pederson laid down to breastfeed her son for the last time on June 13, she hadn’t slept for more than two hours at a stretch in the four days since he’d been born.Avery’s birth was a fast delivery – only six hours – and afterward her doctor prescribed the painkiller hydrocodone.But instead of swallowing the pills, this time Pederson snorted her prescription. The pills made her wide-awake, not sleepy, said Pederson, so she figured it was OK.It wasn’t.“I’m not this monster that people have made me out to be,” Pederson said on the phone from a drug rehab facility months after Avery’s death. “I’d really like to start grieving.”Pederson will spend the next four months behind bars. She was sentenced Monday to three years in prison with all but six months suspended after entering an open plea to Class C felony negligent homicide in November. She’s already served two months of her jail term.Court documents say Pederson snorted hydrocodone just before breast-feeding Avery on June 13. She fell asleep and found Avery unresponsive when she woke up. He died the next day. She initially thought she had smothered him, she told police.But, to this day, it’s unclear how the baby died.Pederson, who calls herself a recreational drug user rather than an addict, doesn’t think her child’s death could have been foreseen.She didn’t take more than the prescribed amount, and she didn’t think it would make her sleepy, she said.“I had him for four days,” she said, choking back tears. “He was a lot of work, but he was amazing.”She used to be a regular marijuana user, but she gave it up for good when her first child was born 11 years ago, she said.She had a full-time job with a loved and expected baby on the way. A photo of her older son and daughter, posing with an expectant Pederson, bore pride of place on her Facebook page in the months preceding Avery’s June birth.“Big brother, big sister,” said their hand-lettered chalkboard signs. “Summer, 2014.”But court records painted a different image of Pederson to prosecutors.Pederson admitted smoking meth with two friends in the days before she gave birth to Avery, one of whom passed that information on to investigating officers.“I felt bad immediately after I did it,” Pederson said, but she doesn’t think she consumed the drug in high-enough doses to hurt Avery. “If it was done in higher doses, it would be.”The baby’s autopsy showed he had no hydrocodone in his system, Mottinger said.Cass County prosecutor Leah Viste acknowledged Pederson didn’t mean to hurt her baby. But a doctor told police that snorting hydrocodone would substantially heighten its effect on the user, making Pederson drowsy and dizzy, and interfering with her breathing.“Exhaustion may have played a role, but we’ll never know if that was it,” Viste said.Her attorney, Steve Mottinger, told the court that Pederson was kicked out of the Robinson Recovery Center rehab program, but not for using drugs.“Sometimes people think they can do things on their own,” he told The Forum.While Mottinger believes Pederson is aware she has a drug addiction, Judge Frank Racek does not.Citing her past drunken driving convictions, her failed rehab attempt, her lost job and the loss of custody of her two older children in this case, Racek denied Pederson’s request for probation rather than jail time. “She does not view her chemical dependency as the cause of her problems, yet at every fork in the road … chemical dependency seems to be a large part of the chaos,” he said.While the judge gave her credit for her two months in rehab, he denied her request to treat her case as a misdemeanor by disposition, leaving a three-year sentence hanging over her head if she fails to complete the terms of her probation, which may include drug treatment.Pederson cried again as she addressed the judge in court.“If I could take it all back, I would,” she said. “I lost my son and anything anyone can do to me doesn’t compare.”While leaving the courtroom, Mottinger repeated his belief that Pederson is ready to face her drug demons.“Sometimes you need to fall down before you can stand. Addiction’s that way,” he said. “There’s no guarantee anyone’s going to make it.”