Baby died after his parents rubbed HEROIN on his gums when he was teething

Denise Manco, 35, and Rondell Moore, 37, pleaded guilty to placing heroin on infant son's gums when he was teething

Baby JM died shortly after from heroin intoxication

Parents of an infant pleaded guilty to placing heroin on their infant son’s gums in 2008 because he was teething. The child, identified only as ‘Baby JM,’ died a short time later from heroin intoxication.

Denise Manco, 35, and 37-year-old Rondell Moore of Toms River, New Jersey, entered guilty pleas earlier this week to one count of second-degree manslaughter, Ocean County prosecutors said today.

Just how the 11-month-old boy ingested the heroin had remained a mystery until investigators in Ocean County got new information in the Seaside Heights case in October.

Confessions: Denise Manco, 35, left, and Rondell Moore, 37, pleaded guilty to rubbing heroin on their infant son's teeth in 2008



Tragic: Baby JM's parents admitted to rubbing heroin on his gums while he was teething, resulting in his death

On September 12, 2008, Baby JM was found unresponsive at their home in Seaside Heights by local police.



Despite being rushed to the Community Medical Center in nearby Toms River, the boy was declared dead.

In October of 2012, new, credible information came to light that the toddler did not ingest the drug by accident, though the prosecutor’s office would not reveal what the specific new information was.

Seaside Heights’ police chief Thomas Boyd told t he New Jersey Star-Ledger tha t the parents’ actions were ‘unfathomable.’

He added: ‘You just sit back and you ask is the world going crazy, or am I?’

Authorities say both defendants admitted placing heroin in the baby's mouth and rubbing it on his gums because he was teething.

According to th e Asbury Park Press , bo th people could face a sentence of up to 10 years if convicted.

