Salem couple faces new charges after baby ingests fentanyl | Crime

Jonathan Bryant, 37, and Kelly Bryant, 32, of 5 Helen Road, were indicted this month on felony charges related to the incident on Sept. 12, 2018 that sent their then-9-month-old child to a Boston hospital.

The couple was indicted last year on charges of reckless conduct and drug possession after they allegedly left the potentially lethal drug within the child’s reach.

According to Rockingham County Attorney Patricia Conway, some of the new indictments replace the original charges.

Each now faces three counts of reckless conduct and one count of witness tampering.

Kelly Bryant also faces an additional charge of falsifying physical evidence.

Both allegedly placed the baby in danger of serious bodily injury by leaving the drug near the child and failing to ensure that he didn’t have access to it while Jonathan Bryant was supervising.

Two of the new reckless conduct charges against the Bryants allege that another toddler was also put at risk of injury because the drug was left within reach.

While believing that an investigation was pending, the Bryants are accused of texting each other after the baby ingested the drug and “discussed telling others that the fentanyl did not belong to them; but rather, that the couple had friends over the house for the football game on Sunday and that one of these friends must have deposited the controlled drug, fentanyl, in their home,” the indictment said.

The new indictments accuse Kelly Bryant of altering, destroying or concealing text messages to and from her husband by deleting them “with a purpose to impair their verity or availability in such proceeding or investigation.”

According to Salem police, the baby was initially brought to Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass., where hospital records confirmed that the baby’s urinalysis tested positive for fentanyl in his system.

The baby was eventually moved to Tufts Medical Center in Boston where he received additional treatment.

An indictment is not an indication of guilt; rather, it means the Rockingham County grand jury found enough evidence to bring the case to trial.