TOMS RIVER, NJ – Natalie Sabie, a 35-year-old resident of Lacey Township, has been indicted by a grand jury yesterday on charges of aggravated manslaughter in connection with the death of her two-year-old son. She was also indicted on three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and possession of fentanyl.
The incident occurred on September 7, 2022, when officers from the Lacey Township Police Department were called to Sabie’s residence, where they found the child unresponsive.
The child was taken to the Community Medical Center in Toms River, where he was pronounced dead. An investigation led by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Lacey Township Police Department, and Lacey Township Police Department Detective Bureau revealed that the child had access to illegal narcotics while under his mother’s care. A forensic pathologist concluded that the child’s cause of death was acute fentanyl intoxication.
Sabie was taken into custody on October 14, 2022, and has been lodged in the Ocean County Jail since then. She has been indicted for the charges mentioned above.
Assistant Prosecutor Kimberly Carr presented the case to the grand jury, and the press and public are reminded that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
The Ocean County Prosecutor, Bradley D. Billhimer, praised the collaborative efforts of various agencies that assisted in the investigation, including the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit and Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office.