September 10, 2023
FREEHOLD – An Asbury Park woman has been sentenced to eight years in state prison for being responsible for the overdose death of her 2-year-old son earlier this year, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago announced Saturday.
Quanique Smith, 27, must serve at least 85 percent of the sentence before the possibility of parole under the provisions of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act (NERA), in accordance with the terms set down during a hearing before Monmouth County Superior Court Assignment Judge Marc C. Lemieux.
Shortly after 1 a.m. on Thursday, January 5, members of the Asbury Park Police Department responded to an apartment unit on the 100 block of Langford Street on a report of an unresponsive child. At that location they found the child, who was rushed to a local hospital, where despite lifesaving efforts he was pronounced deceased shortly before 2 a.m.
An investigation led by Detective Stephen Cavendish of the Prosecutor’s Office’s Major Crimes Bureau and Detective Anthony Houlis of the Asbury Park Police Department determined that quantities of heroin and fentanyl belonging to Smith had been left in the family’s home, within reach of the 2-year-old and his 5-year-old sibling, with the former child ingesting the drugs that directly caused his death. Smith was arrested later on the same day and transported to the Monmouth County Correctional Institution (MCCI) before being indicted in late March.
In May, Smith pleaded guilty to a charge of first-degree Aggravated Manslaughter, to be treated as a second-degree offense for the purposes of sentencing.
This case was prosecuted by Monmouth County Assistant Prosecutor Stephanie L. Dugan. Smith was represented by Allison Friedman, Esq., with an office in Freehold.
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