Police: Pregnant woman overdoses, charged with baby assault

EAST BUTLER, Pa. — A Pennsylvania woman who overdosed on heroin while pregnant and had to undergo a cesarean section is being charged with assault on her unborn child, authorities said.

Kasey Dischman, 30, was roughly seven months pregnant when she injected herself with heroin she found under a couch early last Friday in her home in East Butler, about 40 miles (64 kilometres) north of Pittsburgh, a criminal complaint obtained by KDKA-TV shows.

Police found her unresponsive and ambulance workers said she had a closed head injury and was vomiting on her living room floor, records show. Dischman was taken to a nearby hospital and a day later her baby girl was delivered by C-section and placed on life support.

She later told officers it was the first time she had used heroin since being released from jail on retail theft charges about a week earlier. Her body also tested positive for alcohol, according to the criminal complaint.