Laura Ann Henckel
(PCSD file photo)
By Patti Weaver
(Stillwater, Okla.) — A 44-year-old Stillwater woman, whose 15-year-old son died of a fentanyl overdose three weeks before Christmas, has been charged with child neglect for her alleged failure to provide him adequate nurturance, affection, appropriate education, proper supervision and medical care, as well as allowing him to miss more than 70 days of school during which she allegedly provided him with alcohol and drugs that ultimately resulted in his death on Dec. 5, 2023, and failed to timely call for emergency medical care when she found him unresponsive in his bedroom.
Laura Ann Henckel, who had been sought for seven months on an arrest warrant after the charge was filed in April when a detective received the teen’s death certificate listing fentanyl intoxication as the cause, was booked into the Payne County Jail on $100,000 bail last week. She was arraigned this week on the charge punishable by up to life in prison on conviction.
Prior to the teen’s death, “there had been a total of 22 DHS referrals made to the Department of Human Services. Most of the allegations have alleged drug use in the home, filthy living conditions, lack of supervision, domestic violence in the house, failure to attend school, and concern for the welfare,” of the boy, Stillwater Police Detective Josh Carson wrote in an affidavit.
On Dec. 2, 2023, at 12:49 am, Stillwater police had been sent to Henckel’s apartment regarding a drug overdose and found the teen unresponsive on his bed without a pulse and not breathing, the affidavit said. “Officers began life-saving measures until EMS arrived,” the affidavit said. After the teen was transported, officers found in his room several cut straws along with empty alcohol bottles, the affidavit alleged.
“Cut straws are commonly used to ingest fentanyl by ‘hot railing’ the synthetic opiate,” by placing fentanyl on tin foil, heating the underside of the foil and ingesting the fumes with a cut straw, the affidavit said.
The detective was assigned the case on Dec. 5, 2023, when he was contacted by the State Medical Examiner’s Office that the teen was pronounced dead at 5:48 pm on Dec. 5, 2023, the affidavit said.
The day after her son died, his mother arrived at the Stillwater Police Department to speak to the detective, who alleged in his affidavit, “During our conversation, Laura had no visible signs of distress and did not show any emotion while talking about (his) death. Laura continually tried to divert the conversation and wanted to provide me drug information on her known methamphetamine dealers.”
His mother said that on Dec. 1, 2023, she left her son at home at about 6 pm with $160 cash when he was in his room with his girlfriend, the affidavit alleged. She said she went to a Stillwater man’s house where she smoked methamphetamine before going to Walmart where she said she was going to pay a male to steal Christmas presents for her son, the affidavit alleged.
She said she returned about midnight and texted her son to come to the parking lot to help carry items into the house, but no one answered — so she crawled through a window to her apartment where she found her son “lying on the bed with his hands above his head, and he had blue lips, was not breathing, and did not respond when she spoke to him. Laura said it appeared someone placed him there.
“Laura said there was $30 cash lying beside him in $5 bills. Laura said she ran to the neighbors for help and tried to get them to contact medical help. At approximately 12:49 am, dispatch received a call for service and EMS and the police department was dispatched.
“While speaking with Laura, she told me she knows (her son) used marijuana, ecstasy, has experimented with methamphetamine, has observed him with a white powdery substance coming from his nose but was unaware of any opiate abuse. Laura said she primarily stays in her room, and (her son) stays with (his girlfriend) in his room so she did not know what he was doing all the time. Laura said (her son) did not attend school and has not attended school this year.
“While talking to Laura, it was obvious she was under the influence of methamphetamine. Laura had ‘blown’ or dilated pupils, her mouth was dry, she was making furtive movements, could not sit down for any period of time, and her hands were shaking uncontrollably. I asked Laura when the last time was that she smoked methamphetamine, and she stated ‘yesterday, I took two hits,"” the detective alleged in his affidavit.
The next day, the detective talked to the teen’s girlfriend, who had dated him for about four months, the affidavit said. She said that he “was living by himself and did not have food in the house when they first met. (She) said his mother, Laura Henckel, was supposedly in rehab and left him at the apartment,” the affidavit alleged.
She said during her time with him, he “has zero supervision, is allowed to do anything he wants, and is not made to attend school. She told me Laura bought seven bottles of liquor for (the girlfriend’s) birthday and allowed several underage individuals to consume alcohol at her house. She stated he was allowed to drink alcohol almost every day. She said Laura often provides him with alcohol and marijuana,” the affidavit alleged.
The girlfriend said that on the night of Dec. 1, 2023, the teen was left home alone while she was at a friend’s house communicating with him about going to a movie, the affidavit alleged. She said the teen went to someone’s apartment to smoke marijuana, the affidavit alleged. She said the last text he sent to her was at 8:12 pm on Dec. 1, 2023, the affidavit alleged. She said she found out about his overdose “through a friend and went to be with him at the hospital,” the affidavit alleged.
She said the teen’s mother gave her wine at the hospital while the teen was in the ICU unit, the affidavit alleged. She said, “during her time at the hospital, Laura gave several conflicting stories about (his) overdose and how she found him,” the affidavit alleged.
A neighbor told the detective that at 12:45 am on Dec. 2, 2023, she was awaken by a woman yelling for help, the affidavit alleged. “Laura stated her son was in the house turning blue. (She) asked Laura if she called EMS, and Laura stated, ‘no.’ (The neighbor) said she called 911 and requested medical assistance,” the affidavit alleged.
She said that the teen “came to her apartment hungry on several occasions and she provided him food. She stated he was left unsupervised often and never had anything to eat,” the affidavit alleged.
