Florida grandma arrested after baby allegedly dies from cough syrup overdose

A Broward County grandmother is facing an aggravated manslaughter charge in the death of her own 10-month-old grandson last year.

The child, named Josiah Tobias Fenelus, died last year but it wasn’t until this past week that his grandmother was arrested for his death.

On Saturday, 53-year-old Tibina Louissant faced a Broward County judge for the alleged aggravated manslaughter of Tobias.

Broward Sheriff's Office officials said Fenelus had been left in the care of Louissant and had been at her Oakland Park home when he became unresponsive on Aug. 21, 2022.

Fenelus, who had no known medical problems, was taken to Broward Health Medical Center where he was pronounced dead, BSO said.

The Broward County Medical Examiner’s Office performed an autopsy and determined in October 2022 that Fenelus had a lethal concentration of the powerful antihistamine cyproheptadine in his body, BSO said.

The medical examiner's report was finalized this August.

According to BSO, two baby bottles that later tested positive for cyproheptadine were found in Louissant’s home.

"The child had swelling of the brain, pulmonary congestion, and a small hemorrhage of the scalp, which is bleeding between the scalp and skull," a prosecutor explained in court. "The toxicology results show this was essentially an overdose of what looks like cough syrup."

According to detectives, Louissant said she was the only person to make Josiah’s bottles while in her care.

NBC6 spoke to Tobias’ mother, who claims she didn’t receive the toxicology report until almost a year after his death.

A judge imposed a $50,000 on Louissant who has since bonded out of jail. She’s also been ordered to have no unsupervised visits with minors.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, cyproheptadine is a prescription antihistamine that also acts as an appetite stimulant and is frequently used in attempts to gain weight or enhance one’s physical appearance. It's only legal with a doctor’s prescription but can be found in products sold in certain stores and online without a prescription.

Cyproheptadine is not approved for use in children younger than 2.