LaGrange Twp. woman gets 3 years prison for child's 2024 accidental fatal overdose (VIDEO)

A LaGrange Township woman is going to prison for three years for her role in the 2024 accidental overdose death of an 11-year-old boy who drank water laced with powerful painkillers. Lorain County Common Pleas Judge Melissa Kobasher on Monday sentenced Erin Gallagher to 36 months in prison for involuntary manslaughter — the maximum possible sentence under Ohio law for the third-degree felony crime. Kobasher also gave Gallagher 180 days in jail on a misdemeanor child endangering charge, which under Ohio law must be served concurrently — meaning at the same time — with the felony sentence. Free on bond while awaiting sentencing, Gallagher was immediately taken into custody for transport to the Lorain County Jail. Originally facing a felony child endangering charge, Gallagher, 34, pleaded guilty Aug. 18 to that crime as a less-serious misdemeanor offense after the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office gave her that consideration for cooperating against her co-defendant, Christopher Reed. Both adults have admitted their involvement in the death of Liam Reed, Christopher Reed's 11-year-old son, who died in March 2024 after drinking water laced with residue from the drugs his father was abusing. It was Gallagher who gave authorities the information that helped them explain how Liam Reed ingested the drugs that killed him. "I'm sorry that this happened," Gallagher told Kobasher, sniffling and choking up. "That I don't get to spend forever with (Liam). That I don't get to take care of him. He was a wonderful child." Kobasher said she wasn't sure Gallagher had taken full responsibility for her actions, quoting a presentence investigation report in which Gallagher explained Liam Reed's death: "'My stepson drank a bottle of water my ex used to rinse his needles he used to shoot up with and passed away in his sleep,'" Kobasher read from the report. "It sounds like to me, she hasn't taken responsibility in that statement and continues to put the blame on the co-defendant," Kobasher said, referring to Gallagher's boyfriend and Liam's father, Christopher Reed. Both Gallagher and her attorney, James Ingalls, said she was responsible and admitted what she did. "I did take responsibility for that," Gallagher said. She, too, was a drug user at the time of Liam Reed's death but has not used in the nearly 18 months since. The judge was unmoved. "I'm glad to hear that you're no longer using, ma'am, but unfortunately it took the death of a young child with medical needs for you to make that change," Kobasher told Gallagher. Ingalls, who said Gallagher has no criminal record and asked that she get probation, said it was a "very troubling case, a very emotional case, a very sad case, and tragic." Gallagher was honest with him and authorities the entire time and gave investigators information when they asked for it, he said. "This is the tragic consequences that can occurr when, although you have no intent on a child having access to drugs, certainly this is what happened here," Ingalls said. Liam Reed died March 30, 2024, after drinking a bottle of water his father, who was abusing powerful painkillers illegally, had used to wash the hypodermic needles he used to inject the drugs. That left some fentanyl and morphine residue inside the water bottle, and Liam Reed suffered a fatal overdose when he drank the water, according to the county coroner's and prosecutor's offices. His death was ruled a homicide, caused by acute fentanyl and morphine intoxication, the Coroner's Office ruled. Gallagher was watching SpongeBob Squarepants with Liam Reed when she fell asleep. She woke up hours later to find him unresponsive, according to statements made Monday in court. Liam Reed had a genetic disorder called Dravet syndrome. It can cause seizures, sleeplessness and developmental issues, could have caused him to wander at night and possibly affected his judgment, Coroner Dr. Frank Miller previously said. Gallagher was reckless when she allowed dangerous drugs to come into the home where a child could get access to them, Ingalls said. It will be "extremely difficult" for Gallagher to deal with Liam Reed's death every day for the rest of her life, he said, as she knows she can't change the past. Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Jonathan Block agreed that it was a "heavy case" for the court, resulting from drug use and the mishandling of drug residue and paraphernalia. "Ultimately the result was a young child is no longer with us because of that abuse," he said. If the disturbing evidence in the case wasn't enough to change Gallagher, "I don't know what will," Block told Kobasher. Liam Reed's biological mother didn't attend Monday's sentencing, he said. Liam liked playing outside and being in the outdoors, swimming and fishing, horses, riding his bike and enjoyed video games, according to his obituary. Gallagher and Christopher Reed were indicted in Liam Reed's death in October 2024. Christopher Reed, 37, of LaGrange Township, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and endangering children, both felonies, on Aug. 19. He is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 6 in Kobasher's court. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.