South Brunswick Mom Says She's Not Guilty In Son's Death

SOUTH BRUNSWICK, NJ — The South Brunswick mom charged with manslaughter in the overdose death of her 2-year-old son told police she saw the boy take a sip of her methadone at dinnertime, but then did not call 911 until nearly 10 hours later, when the boy was unconscious and had turned blue in his bed.

Lynn Bergans, 34, also told police she didn't think her son could "get a hold of her medicine," according to an affidavit obtained by NJ.com. She pleaded not guilty this Wednesday in Middlesex County Superior Court to charges of reckless manslaughter and child endangerment in the death of her toddler son.

The boy's tragic death occurred earlier this year, on May 15, at the Kendall Park home Bergans lived in with her son on Sand Hills Road. Bergans was arrested this past Tuesday.

When she was arrested, she told police she had seen the boy take a sip of her methadone, which she had kept in a cup mixed with water sitting on a low table, according to the affidavit. That was between 5 and 6 p.m. on May 14.

The boy "winced" after the sip, NJ.com reported. Bergans told police she kept an eye on the boy to make sure he was OK, according to the affidavit, and she put the child to bed at some point. According to the affidavit, she said she saw the child take only the one single sip.

However, it was at 3:38 a.m. on May 15 that she called 911, to report that her son was in his bed, unconscious, unresponsive and blue. She could not wake him up.

Police and rescue workers tried to revive the boy, but they were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the home. A subsequent toxicology report showed the boy died from a fatal methadone overdose.

Bergans was prescribed the methadone at a clinic in New Brunswick. Methadone is commonly taken by people trying to quit heroin addiction.

As Patch reported earlier this week, this is not Bergans' first brush with the law: She was arrested in 2011 when she was working as a home health aide, and charged stealing from the 88-year-old woman and her 55-year-old disabled daughter whom she cared for in their South Brunswick home.

The alleged thefts were discovered when a relative visiting from out of state noticed that many checks were missing from the elderly woman's house, and called police in July of 2011.

South Brunswick police detective Roger Tuohy discovered Bergans, then 27, had been stealing from the family since December of that year, and writing checks to herself, NJ.com reported at the time. When police searched her home on Sand Hills Road in 2011, they said they found checks and stolen bank statements in her basement.

Police said she stole up to $30,000 from the elderly woman and her disabled daughter. She was also using the older woman's car without her permission, police said.

According to the report, Bergans used the money to buy cocaine and other drugs.

Latest Patch coverage of Lynn Bergans: Boy, 2, Dies After Ingesting Methadone In South Brunswick
2011 mugshot of Lynn Bergans used with permission from South Brunswick police.