Alvetta Haskins must serve 12 years and nine months for the death of her 3-month-old granddaughter, Skylar.

NORFOLK, Va. — A Virginia grandmother was sentenced to 30 years in prison, with more than half of the term suspended, after admitting that she put prescription medication and cough syrup into her infant granddaughter’s bottle before the child died from an overdose.

Norfolk Circuit Court Judge Jamilah D. LeCruise ordered 51-year-old Alvetta Juanita Haskins to serve 12 years and nine months of the sentence. The remaining 17 years and three months were suspended. Haskins will also face five years of supervised probation and five years of good behavior after her release, according to local reporting based on information from the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. The court further ordered her not to provide child care without additional supervision. Haskins pleaded guilty to felony homicide in October 2025, resolving a case that began with the unexplained death of 3-month-old Skylar in April 2024.

The sentence closed the criminal case more than two years after emergency crews were called to an apartment in the 100 block of Suburban Parkway. Haskins was babysitting twin grandchildren there on April 21, 2024. Prosecutors said she mixed her prescribed antipsychotic medicine and an over-the-counter cold remedy into Skylar’s bottle and fed it to her. The Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said investigators could not establish with certainty why she did so, though the evidence indicated that she may have been trying to quiet the baby. Haskins later gave a different explanation, saying she believed she was providing medicine for cold symptoms.

Shortly before 12:20 a.m. on April 22, Haskins called 911 after finding Skylar unresponsive. She attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation before paramedics arrived, according to accounts of the case. The baby was taken to Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters, where medical staff pronounced her dead. Officials said Skylar had shown no signs of illness or distress before the medication was given. An autopsy was performed that day, but the initial examination did not immediately reveal the role of the drugs. Doctors first considered unsafe sleep as a possible cause while awaiting further test results.

The investigation changed when postmortem toxicology testing found Seroquel in the infant’s system. Seroquel, the brand name for quetiapine, is a prescription antipsychotic used to treat certain mood disorders. Authorities said the concentration in Skylar’s blood showed that she died from an overdose. An over-the-counter cold medication was also detected. Investigators then reviewed Haskins’ prescription records and confirmed that the Seroquel was prescribed to her. The toxicology findings gave police evidence that the infant’s death was not an unexplained medical event but a homicide caused by medication administered while she was in Haskins’ care.

Haskins acknowledged during the investigation that she had placed some of her prescription medicine in the bottle, according to the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office. She also admitted giving the baby over-the-counter cold remedies. At other points, however, she denied knowingly administering prescription medication or said she did not remember doing so. At sentencing, Haskins said she believed Skylar had a stuffy nose and that she had intended to mix adult Tylenol with powdered formula because children’s Tylenol was not available. She said she kept multiple prescriptions together and did not realize she had selected the wrong medicine.

Haskins also told the court that she had been arguing with her boyfriend while preparing the bottle and was trembling. Her defense presented the poisoning as a devastating mistake rather than an intentional effort to kill the child. Haskins apologized in court and said she wished she could reverse what happened. She told the judge that Skylar was part of her own family and that she did not learn which medication had been used until speaking with a detective and her daughter. Her statements focused on confusion and remorse, but prosecutors argued that the circumstances showed an extreme and criminal failure to protect an infant in her care.

Police initially charged Haskins with second-degree murder after the medical examiner classified Skylar’s death as a homicide. Norfolk police announced the charge in January 2025, about nine months after the child died. Haskins had been arrested Jan. 1 and held in the Norfolk City Jail without bond. The case was later resolved through an agreement allowing her to plead guilty to felony homicide. Under Virginia law, felony homicide covers an unintentional killing that occurs during the commission of another felony. Prosecutors said the underlying conduct would have supported a felony child-neglect charge if the baby had survived.

The distinction allowed the court to recognize that prosecutors were not accusing Haskins of planning to kill Skylar while still holding her criminally responsible for conduct that caused the death. The plea agreement limited the active prison term to no more than the midpoint of Haskins’ state sentencing guidelines. LeCruise accepted the agreement and found Haskins guilty. At the sentencing hearing, the judge imposed the full 30-year term but suspended a large portion, leaving the active sentence of 12 years and nine months that Haskins must serve before any release permitted under Virginia law.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi said the case rested on a basic duty owed to a child who was unable to protect herself. “Babies are not adults, and they should never be given prescription medication except by a doctor’s order,” Fatehi said in a statement. He said anyone who accepts responsibility for watching children, particularly infants, must exercise care and face consequences for dangerous conduct. Fatehi also explained the prosecution’s charging decision, saying Haskins would have faced felony child neglect had Skylar lived but that the child’s death made felony homicide the appropriate charge.

The court’s sentence addressed both punishment and the risk of similar conduct after Haskins leaves prison. In addition to probation and the good-behavior requirement, the restriction on unsupervised child care is intended to limit the circumstances in which she could again have sole responsibility for a child. A suspended sentence can also be imposed later if a defendant violates court-ordered conditions. Those provisions mean Haskins will remain under legal oversight after completing the active prison term, even though most of the 30-year sentence was not ordered to be served immediately.

LeCruise acknowledged that no prison term could restore what Skylar lost. The judge said that regardless of the punishment imposed, the child would never have the opportunity to experience her life. Family members remained in the courtroom as Haskins was taken into custody following the hearing. Some, including Haskins’ daughter, called out that they loved her as she was led away. The scene reflected the lasting consequences of a case in which the person convicted and the child who died belonged to the same family.

Haskins is now serving the active portion of her sentence. No further trial is scheduled because the guilty plea resolved the felony homicide charge. The suspended prison time, supervised probation, good-behavior period and child-care restriction will remain part of the judgment governing her eventual release.

Author note: Last updated July 26, 2026.