They said it was to punish the boy, who they were babysitting, for wetting the bed:

MERIDEN, Conn. – Two family friends accused of depriving a toddler of fluid for a week as punishment for bed-wetting appeared in court Wednesday to face charges in his death.

Police said 23-month-old Amari Jackson died of dehydration while Sharon Patterson and her brother Robert Patterson were caring for him in February.

Investigators said glasses around the house were laced with hot sauce to keep the boy from drinking.

According to an arrest warrant affidavit, Robert Patterson told police that the boy cried for his mother when he began staying with him and his sister, but “towards the end of his stay Amari was crying for something to drink.”

Amari was pronounced dead at to Yale-New Haven Hospital, where medical records indicate that he “appeared wasted” and had “sunken eyes.”

The mother trusted these monsters because she was a friend of the family. The best part, they asked her if they could babysit because the mother, Sara Hicks, was sick:

Amari’s mother, Sara Hicks, said she has been friends with Sharon Patterson’s daughter since they were 8. She said Sharon Patterson offered to care for her son for about a week because she was sick with a fever and caring for her 8-month-old daughter.

Hicks said she cannot make sense of her son’s death but was pleased police had charged the Pattersons.

This evil woman offered to care for the boy than killed him in a fit of pique. Disgusting. She even has the nerve to claim she didn’t know depriving a toddler of liquids would hurt him!

What kind of person claims to be so out of touch with reality that she doesn’t know she was killing a crying little boy?

Sharon Patterson told police she had been drinking and smoking marijuana the day before Amari died, according to an arrest warrant affidavit. She also told them she had previously lost custody of four children because of drug addiction. Attorneys said in court Wednesday that she has mental health issues.

I don’t doubt she has mental health issues, although there is no cure for sociopathy. Oddly sociopaths are frequently dependent on drugs or alcohol for the emotional stimulation their stunted psyches cannot produce by experiencing reality.

I do doubt that she smoked pot just the one time that week. I doubt a sober person could have come up with such a reckless and depraved punishment for a toddler.

Sharon Patterson smoked pot while a toddler died in her care. I’m sure there will be people who claim that pot played no part in little Amari’s death but we know better. Drug use is never victimless for long.

h/t Crime Scene KC