MONROE, La. – A newborn was hospitalized after doctors discovered marijuana in his system shortly after his birth and Ouachita Parish sheriff's investigators arrested the mother.
Renita D. Simmons, 18, of West Monroe was booked Wednesday on charges of second-degree cruelty to a juvenile.
Investigators said a caseworker with Glenwood Regional Medical Center called the Sheriff's Office on Feb. 4 to report a newborn with marijuana in his system.
The caseworker told deputies Simmons gave birth on Feb. 3 and a urine analysis was conducted on the child, according to an incident report.
On Wednesday, the teenage mother admitted to investigators that she used marijuana several times during her pregnancy and used the drug approximately two or three weeks before giving birth, the report stated.
Simmons also admitted to deputies that she knew the drugs could harm her unborn child.
Detectives said that the infant was premature and remained hospitalized as of Thursday.
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