A Fulton County court convicted a man who slipped antifreeze into his newborn daughter’s milk nearly four years ago to avoid paying child support.
The South Fulton Police Department announced April 11 that the jury found Curtis Jack guilty of all counts—first-degree cruelty to children and criminal attempt to commit murder—and sentenced him to 50 years in prison, with 40 years to serve in custody.
“Defendant Sentenced to 50 Years in Baby Antifreeze Poisoning Case. On October 1, 2020, Mr. Curtis Jack picked up bottles of breastmilk from the mother of his child, who was hospitalized after giving birth to their daughter on September 24, 2020. The woman and Jack, both employees at a company, had been in an intimate relationship since January 2020. Jack had previously insisted that the woman terminate her pregnancy,” the Facebook post read. “The jury found Jack guilty on all counts, and he was sentenced to 50 years, with 40 years to serve in custody.”
In 2020, Jack had an intimate relationship with his co-worker that resulted in an unwanted pregnancy. Jack attempted to convince her to terminate the pregnancy. She told the outlet that Jack tried to get her to abort their daughter, baby Madison, for the entire nine months.
She would have baby Madison later on, but doctors required her to stay in the hospital while her mother (the child’s grandmother) watched over her daughter. On Oct. 1, 2020, she had Jack pick up the breastmilk bottles to take to the grandmother’s house. Sometime between his obtaining the bottles and giving them to the grandmother, Jack poured antifreeze into the breastmilk bottles.
Within 24 hours, the child became severely sick, and professionals believed Madison was poisoned.
Police questioned Jack, and he admitted to adding antifreeze to the breastmilk, claiming he didn’t want to pay child support for the child.
Investigators were confused about Jack’s motives since he had a well-paying job.
Police arrested Jack in October 2020 on charges of cruelty to children (first-degree), child endangerment and criminal attempt to commit murder. He was released on bond in November 2020.
Jack then reneged on his confession, requiring investigators to work twice as hard to uncover evidence. South Fulton Police Sergeant Pserda Dickerson said that despite the confession, investigators had to prove Jack committed the crime.
“During the trial, the state presented testimonies from the child’s mother, grandmother, law enforcement officers, and medical experts, including a demonstration of how easy it was to poison the breastmilk,” SFPD stated.
Baby Madison is alive and doing ok, the mother told the outlet.
Antifreeze is colorless and odorless, with a sweet taste and severe effects.
The symptoms of antifreeze poisoning vary in body parts but include breathing problems, blood in urine, little to no urine output, blurred vision, blindness, low blood pressure, leg cramps, coma, convulsions, dizziness, fatigue, headache, slurred speech, stupor (lack of alertness), nausea and vomiting, blue lips and fingernails, unsteady walking and unconsciousness.
