Mom Faces Murder Charge Over Meth Breast Milk

EUREKA, Calif. (AP) -- Prosecutors in Northern California have upgraded charges against a woman accused of feeding her son methamphetamine-laced breast milk to murder, rather than manslaughter.

Six-week-old Michael Acosta III was taken to the hospital after he stopped breathing last November and was pronounced dead. Investigators determined his mother, Maggie Jean Wortman, had breastfed the child while she had drugs in her system.

After a preliminary hearing last month, a judge ordered Wortman to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment.

Humboldt County prosecutors say evidence introduced during that hearing led to the upgraded charges this week. Deputy District Attorney Ben McLaughlin told the Times-Standard of Eureka that Wortman's recklessness warranted the murder charge.

Defense attorney M.C. Bruce says the facts don't support that. He plans to seek to have the charge reduced.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)