'I don't have an ounce of guilt': says teen accused of trying to kill infant with poisoned milk

Sarai Rodriguez Miranda accused of trying to poison her newborn niece with over-the-counter painkillers

Rodriguez-Miranda is now on the run after failing to meet with police (file photo)

Sarai Rodriguez-Miranda did not want them staying in her house, police said.

The teen’s brother, his fiancee and their 11-week-old baby had been staying with Rodriguez-Miranda and her mother at their home in Fort Wayne, Indiana – and they were planning to extend their visit.

Investigators said Rodriguez-Miranda, who was 18 at the time, wanted them to go and sent a text to her boyfriend, detailing a sinister plan.

“I’m gunna crush up some of these pills since she decided they can stay longer,” the teen wrote in January, “and kill their baby.”

The allegations come from an affidavit for probable cause filed this week in the Allen County Circuit and Superior Courts in Indiana. The documents say Rodriguez-Miranda researched how much over-the-counter pain reliever it would take to kill someone, then crushed a number of Excedrin tablets and put the powder in a bottle of breast milk.

Rodriguez-Miranda sent her boyfriend a picture of a mortar and pestle set containing the white concoction, according to the court documents.

“I put the stuff in a made bottle in the fridge,” she wrote.

In another text, she wrote: “Yeah I thought it was funny that I don’t have an ounce of guilt.”

Authorities are now searching for Rodriguez-Miranda, who has been charged with attempted murder. Police believe she and her boyfriend left Fort Wayne and headed to Michigan to stay with her boyfriend’s family.

Allen County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Steve Stone said Friday morning that authorities were still “actively looking for” Rodriguez-Miranda, who is now 19.

In the early morning hours of 12 January, Rodriguez-Miranda’s mother, who monitors her daughter’s phone and social media messages, saw the text exchange between the teenager and her boyfriend, according to the court records. The mother, whose name is redacted in the court documents, took images of the messages – then went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator door.

Inside, she found two baby bottles – one of which was darker in colour with a greenish ring and a residue that had settled at the bottom.

She put both bottles in a plastic grocery sack and secured them in a zip-lock bag. Then she took her grandchild, along with the child’s mother, to a nearby emergency room to have the infant checked for possible poisoning.

Court records say the infant showed no signs of poisoning because the bottles had not yet been used to feed her.

Rodriguez-Miranda later sent another text message to her boyfriend, saying: “Omg I forgot to tell you, the bottle is gone.”

“I know I’m excited dude. I’m glad it didn’t happen while I was here,” she wrote, adding: “Bc then they wouldn’t suspect it happened at this house and blah blah blahhh, But idk if they’ll even use it bc that bottle was in there for like 2 days before I put it in there.”

The teen then started to question why her niece was still alive.

“Why didn’t that baby die dude that’s dumb,” she wrote.

The text messages, which are detailed in court records, show the teen’s evolution from “Theyre not gunna suspect me” to “I had a dream that night that I got caught.”

Rodriguez-Miranda wrote in one text “my subconscious is guilty” but, in the same sentence, added, “but tbh I hope she dies. I dont feel bad about it bc she was destined to grow up s-- or be abused.”

Following the incident, Rodriguez-Miranda’s mother told her to be at home on 17 January to talk to police about what had happened.

But the teen did not return, according to the records. Her mother then gave police the mortar and pestle set, which still had a white powder in it.

A forensic toxicology report showed that the milk in one of the bottles contained the components of Excedrin tablets – acetaminophen, acetylsalicylic acid (or Aspirin) and caffeine.

Authorities wrote in the probable cause affidavit that amount was “more than enough to be fatal for an adult.”

It was not immediately clear on Friday morning whether Rodriguez-Miranda had an attorney in the case.

Washington Post