Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced on Feb. 28 that James Carr, 35, of Lake Grove, was found guilty after a jury trial of assault and drug possession charges, for the near-fatal overdose of his infant child. Co-defendant Robert Mauro, 33, of Miller Place, previously pleaded guilty to numerous crimes related to the fatal overdose of a 33-year-old adult female in January 2024.

“My office is determined and dedicated to fight the fentanyl crisis, and this conviction represents another step in the right direction,” said District Attorney Tierney. “This is the first time in New York that fentanyl has been deemed a dangerous instrument. We will continue our commitment to hold drug dealers accountable for selling this poison. My office will continue to fight to make sure we keep our children safe from fentanyl, and we will continue to seek justice for all victims of the fentanyl crisis.”

The evidence at Carr’s trial, and Mauro’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, established that on January 13, 2024, members of the Suffolk County Police Department and the Ronkonkoma Fire Department responded to a 911 call reporting a non-responsive infant on Colmar Avenue in Lake Grove.

When they arrived, “John Doe,” an 11-month-old infant, had turned blue, his eyes were rolled toward the back of his head, and he was having extreme difficulty breathing.

Due to his serious condition, the ambulance that was transporting the boy to the hospital had to pull over during the transit so a MedCat Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) could board the ambulance to provide additional lifesaving care to the infant. The child had stopped breathing for an extended period of time on the way to Stony Brook University Hospital and had been unresponsive for approximately 40 minutes. The medics inside the ambulance determined that the symptoms the child was exhibiting were from opiate poisoning. They quickly acted and provided the baby with a quantity of Narcan in each nostril. Five minutes after the administration of Narcan, he took a full breath on his own and began to cry.

Once at the hospital, the 11-month-old child was diagnosed with acute fentanyl poisoning, hypoxia, and respiratory failure and required additional doses of Narcan in the Pediatric Emergency Room. After his admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the infant was placed on a Narcan drip in order to prevent recurrent respiratory failure due to the opioid poisoning. James Carr, the child’s father, was arrested on the same day.

A search of the Lake Grove residence was conducted by the Suffolk County Police Department, and investigators recovered a straw containing cocaine, 4-ANPP (a precursor to fentanyl), heroin, and fentanyl residue, a digital scale containing cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl residue, and a plastic bag containing cocaine residue.

A review of phone data recovered from Carr’s phone revealed that on January 4, 2024, and January 5, 2024, he was in contact with Mauro where they discussed a sale of narcotics where Mauro offered to sell narcotics to Carr. Mauro knew that the narcotics that he intended to sell Carr had caused an overdose previously and advertised the drugs to Carr as an “oz of fire that some kid od’d off of.” Over the next few days, Carr actively sought out the drugs from Mauro. On January 9, 2024, Mauro sold the drug to Carr, just four days before the infant ingested a near-fatal dose of fentanyl.

On January 29, 2024, while Suffolk County Police Department Fourth Squad detectives were conducting their investigation into Carr and Mauro, Homicide Squad detectives responded to a fatal overdose that occurred at a home in Patchogue. At that location, law enforcement recovered from the scene the 31-year-old victim’s1 cell phone, and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP.

A review of the victim’s phone data showed that she too had purchased narcotics from Mauro. This sale occurred on January 28, 2024. A further review of the data showed that on January 26, 2024, the victim texted Mauro that she had not used heroin in over a year and was concerned about the substance she was going to buy.

She texted, “I’m not trying to drop dead,” and asked, “is it really strong? Should I be concerned?” Mauro responded that “lol u will b fine” and that he would sell her a “non-fenty” mix, meaning narcotics without any fentanyl. That same day Mauro told an unidentified purchaser that his product was so strong that it put him “out” for a couple of hours.

An autopsy conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that the female victim’s cause of death was acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, fluro fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, methoxyacytal fentanyl, xylazine, and buprenorphine.

Xylazine, also known as “Tranq,” is a powerful sedative, commonly used by veterinarians to tranquilize large livestock, and is increasingly used by drug dealers as a “cutting agent” to increase their profits on their sale of drugs. Despite legislative efforts championed by District Attorney Tierney, Xylazine is still currently legal to possess and sell in New York State.

On February 20, 2024, a search warrant was executed at Mauro’s home in Miller Place. During the execution of the warrant, Mauro attempted to destroy evidence by throwing a digital scale and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP out of his bedroom window into the snow, but those items were recovered by law enforcement, as well as suboxone pills and Mauro’s cellphone.

On October 17, 2024, Mauro pleaded guilty to Manslaughter in the Second Degree, a Class C felony, and Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance, a Class B felony, before County Court Judge Philip Goglas.

On January 28, 2025, Mauro was sentenced to five to fifteen years in prison, which is the maximum sentence allowable under the law, and which will be followed by a period of two years post-release supervision once he is released. He was represented by Matthew Tuohy, Esq.

On February 27, 2025, Carr was found guilty of one count of Assault in the Second Degree, a Class D violent felony, and one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, a Class A misdemeanor, after a jury trial heard before Judge Goglas.

Following the verdict, Carr was remanded into custody. He is due back in court for sentencing on March 31, 2025, and faces up to two to seven years in prison. He is being represented by John Campo Esq.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Danielle Davis and Daniel Fischer of the Narcotics Bureau.

A video recording of the incident can be found on DA Tierney’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9di_Xnhr8Mw&t=1s