An Augusta mother is facing felony charges after authorities say her negligence directly led to the methadone overdose death of her 1-year-old son in June.
Genysis Mortley Lowery, 30, has been charged with cruelty to children in the second degree, a felony under Georgia law, after a forensic investigation revealed Trae’son Kevin Dunn died after ingesting her prescribed liquid methadone — medication that she allegedly left unsecured and within reach of her children.
According to an arrest warrant, the tragedy unfolded around 4 a.m. on June 11 at the family’s home on Ward Avenue in Augusta. Lowery was reportedly occupied in the kitchen while her children — both under 5 — played unsupervised in a rear bedroom. Her methadone was left on a table in the bedroom, unsecured.
The children knocked over the table, causing the entire bottle of methadone to spill onto the floor. Rather than calling for help or seeking medical evaluation, Lowery is accused of removing the children from the room, cleaning the mess, and placing her son Trae’son into a playpen, where he eventually fell asleep around 10 p.m.
What followed was an eight-hour window of inaction. Authorities say Lowery failed to monitor the child or check his condition until she discovered him stiff, unresponsive, and not breathing the following morning.
First responders pronounced the child dead at the scene.
A GBI report confirmed the child tested positive for methadone, with a concentration of 0.55 milligrams per liter — a potentially lethal dose for a toddler. Authorities allege the child suffered “cruel and excessive physical and mental pain” as a result of Lowery’s criminal negligence.
The child’s father, Tristan Marquis Dunn, told deputies he left for work around 3 p.m. that day and did not see the child when he returned home at 11 p.m. He went to sleep, only to be awakened hours later when Lowery discovered the baby was not breathing.
Meanwhile, a second child in the home was placed into protective custody and taken to Children’s Hospital for evaluation.
In the weeks that followed, Lowery took to social media, to comment on the accusations. In a post on July 6, she claimed, “Never did drugs in my life. I woke up and found my son — the police and the news lies… my baby didn’t die from my medication, he died in his sleep.”
On July 14, she posted again: “Every day you are in my heart and soul… I miss you laying on my chest… now I look at stars. Because I know you a beautiful Angel. Love u for ever.”
Lowery was formally arrested on Aug. 2. The investigation is ongoing.
