Rogers County Child Born With Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Mother Gets Probation

A Rogers County judge gave a woman probation after her child was born with fetal alcohol syndrome and the umbilical cord tested positive for cocaine.

The Department of Corrections recommended prison time for Shanece Wilson, saying she showed "little, if any regard for her own child's life when she was pregnant.”

They said Wilson even refused a urine test when she met with the DOC investigator.

Records show Wilson had already given up guardianship of her daughter before she got pregnant with a little boy. Police say she cut herself while pregnant and said she was trying to kill herself "because I'm pregnant and I don't want to be."

During a pre-natal visit four months later, the doctor sent Wilson to the hospital for detox. The report says she smelled like alcohol during many visits and admitted drinking a liter of alcohol a day.

DHS reports Wilson had tested positive for alcohol several times during her pregnancy and was positive again at the hospital when she gave birth to her son with fetal alcohol syndrome.

Records say Wilson put him up for adoption and after nearly a month in intensive care, he went home with his new parents. The District Attorney charged Wilson with child abuse.

Wilson told the DOC investigator she started smoking marijuana at age 14 and drinking at 16 as she came from a family of alcoholics.

She said she used cocaine six times and marijuana and vodka more than a thousand times. She said she wanted to get her GED and a college degree in a field where she could help people.

She was denied drug court and DOC says within two months of completing a substance abuse treatment plan, Wilson relapsed. Based on all that, they recommended she serve prison time.

Judge Kassie McCoy gave Wilson a seven-year suspended sentence and ordered her to go to Oxford House, a sober living home and after she is to spend two years with Light of Hope, a ministry for addicts and their families.