YOUNGSTOWN — Sarahann L. Oliver, 32, of Warren, was sentenced to nine months in prison Wednesday for not better protecting her then 8-month-old daughter on Dec. 21, 2021, at a home on Vestal Road, resulting in the child overdosing on fentanyl.

The child was revived with two doses of the opiate-reversal drug naloxone and survived. Oliver pleaded guilty earlier to felony child endangering and could have gotten about three years in prison.

Judge John Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court listened to the prosecution and defense and told Oliver she is “incredibly fortunate that the baby got to Akron Children’s in time, that she survived.”

He said the fact that it took two doses of naloxone to revive the baby means the baby suffered “serious physical harm.” He added, “You’ve got an 8-month-old child in your care. Clearly she had easy access to fentanyl in your place. Whether this was left on the floor or a blanket, this could have been tragic.”

He said he appreciates that Oliver was “taking steps” to address her substance abuse and will continue to do that, but at the same time, “I’m also looking at your prior criminal history and probation violations and risk created in this case.”

Caitlyn Andrews, assistant county prosecutor, said the matter began with Oliver leaving the baby alone to go upstairs to smoke a cigarette. When she came back, the baby was having trouble breathing and some high-pitch wheezing.

She took the baby to the neighbor’s house, where the neighbor reported that the child “seemed lethargic with blue lips.” Two doses of the opiate reversal drug naloxone were administered before the child “became fully responsive,” Andrews said.

The child was taken to Akron Children Hospital, “where she tested positive for fentanyl,” Andrews said. Police officers and hospital staff interviewed Oliver at the hospital and described Oliver as “slow to respond and seemed lethargic. She had pinpoint pupils, which are a symptom of an opioid abuse,” Andrews said.

When Oliver was asked at the hospital if the baby could have gotten into fentanyl or heroin, Oliver said she had a friend at the house several weeks prior who could have potentially left something in the house.

Two weeks later, Oliver “tested positive for fentanyl and THC,” Andrews said, telling the judge the prosecutor’s office was recommending that Oliver get nine months in prison.

“As the mother, she is responsible for her child,” Andrews said, noting that the baby “was eight months old. She couldn’t have possibly reached into a drawer or climbed up and gotten into a cabinet to find something like this. This was in a place that was easily accessible to an eight-month-old child.”

Oliver was not charged with possessing fentanyl. “She is charged with violating a duty of care by allowing her child to somehow have access to something like this. She should not have people in and out of her home who are using things like this,” Andrews said.

Medical records showed that Oliver tested positive for fentanyl while she was pregnant with the girl. “Clearly she has an addiction issue,” which is why prosecutors recommended the minimum sentence for the crime, Andrews said.

Prison is recommended because Oliver has “allowed her addiction to get to a point where she is leaving the drug around the house where her child could have died that day.” Oliver also has a previous criminal record and has had multiple probation violations “on nearly each of her prior cases,” Andrews said.

Oliver’s attorney, Rhys Cartwright-Jones, told the judge it’s not likely that the fentanyl was Oliver’s because she was staying in a facility run by a treatment company and had passed a drug test.

He said the physical harm involved in this case is “a trip to the hospital” and “maybe recklessness,” but “prison is a place reserved for the most dangerous, the malicious,” he said.

When the judge asked Oliver some questions, she said she doesn’t take certain mental health mediations right now because she is pregnant.