Richmond County authorities have locked up a local woman for child cruelty after her crack-cocaine injection allegedly led to the stillbirth deaths of her twin boys at 20 weeks of gestation.
Antauwniya Reed, 26, of Old Indian Camp Road, Grovetown, spent her fourth day in jail Friday on two counts of cruelty to children in the first-degree.
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Coroner Mark Bowen confirmed that the twin boys were stillborn on Monday. He said toxicology tests are being conducted on the children.
Arrest warrants say that Reed “injected crack cocaine while pregnant” with the twins at West Gate Apartments on Deans Bridge Road in Hephzibah.
As a result of the complications from the drug use, both victims died, the warrants say. Their cause of death is listed as “undetermined” pending other toxicology tests, the coroner said.
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Reed was arrested Monday and remained at the Richmond County Detention Center on Friday without bond. She was also served with a criminal trespass warrant that was outstanding from 2021.
At 20 weeks, a fetus is about the size of a bell pepper. By that stage, a baby may weigh about 9 to 11 ounces and is more than six inches long, according to online research. The baby could be cupped in the palms of the hands.
In Georgia, a person convicted of the offense of cruelty to children in the first degree faces a possible punishment five to 20 years in prison for each count.
Greg Rickabaugh is the Jail Report contributor for The Augusta Press. Reach him at greg.rickabaugh@theaugustapress.com
