YOUNGSTOWN Grandma pleads guilty in boy's death

The Youngstown woman will be sentenced in about a month.
YOUNGSTOWN -- The grandmother of a 15-month-old boy who died after swallowing her OxyContin pills pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and possession of drugs.
Mary Ann Barnett, 46, of Julian Street, entered the plea Wednesday before Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
She will be sentenced in about a month.
Her grandson, Justin W. Hoschar, ingested between nine and 13 of the 20-milligram OxyContin pills at her home in December 2001, says an autopsy report that ruled the death accidental.
The boy was in a coma for three days before he died.
Police said they found loose pills at Barnett's home, and she was high on drugs and unaware of her surroundings the day the boy was admitted to the hospital.
At the time, the boy and his then-21/2-year-old sister were living with Barnett.
Barnett's daughter is the children's mother.
Drug charge
Barnett was sentenced to probation and a 60-day suspended jail sentence in December after pleading guilty in Youngstown Municipal Court to two misdemeanor counts of drug abuse.
She also was fined $200 and placed on probation for two years with random drug screenings.
At that sentencing, Barnett said she had completed an outpatient drug program and that she had become addicted to prescription painkillers after surgeries.
She said that she was seeing a chiropractor for her pain.
OxyContin is a powerful painkiller dispensed by prescription.
Barnett told police she bought it off the street and not with a prescription.