Mom Dies, Dad ODs in Daughter's Hospital Room

Dad now faces charges over suspect heroin use
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 8, 2016 11:22 AM CST
Mom Dies, Dad ODs in Daughter's Hospital Room
The Landers family.   (Facebook)

On Facebook, Mary Ann and Wesley Landers and their two daughters looked like the "picture perfect family," says a friend. Then came "an eye-opener." Mary Ann, 32, was found dead of a suspected heroin overdose in her 7-month-old daughter's room at Cincinnati Children's Hospital around 11:30am on Thursday, reports WTOL. A syringe was still in her arm. Wesley, 31, was found unconscious in a locked bathroom, also with a needle in his arm and a loaded gun in his pocket, though doctors were able to revive him, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer. Only the day before, Wesley had posted a photo of the pair smiling alongside their daughter, who underwent a laryngotracheal reconstruction, per WCPO.

Those closest to the couple in their hometown of Trinity, Alabama, say they had no idea either were using drugs. When he last saw the couple, their pastor says "they were very positive and upbeat and just believed God was going to bring their daughter through this." "They're not bad people, they're not bad parents,” a friend says. Mary Ann "was just the sweetest, sweetest girl." Wesley "is a hard worker and he's a good dad," she adds. "If the heroin epidemic has exhibited itself in a more tragic form, I haven't seen it," a judge said in Hamilton County court Friday as Wesley Landers was arraigned on drug and weapons charges. It isn't clear who now has custody of the daughters. (This guy hopes his hospital bed photo will prevent drug abuse.)

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