Mother poisoned hospitalized toddler with vape oil, police say

Doctors: 14-month-old boy had seizures, high levels of nicotine in blood

A Catasauqua mother is charged with poisoning her toddler son with vape oil while he was in the hospital for what doctors initially believed was asthma.

Alexia Tretter, 25, has been charged with aggravated assault with extreme indifference, aggravated assault of a child younger than 6 years old and endangering the welfare of a child — all felonies. She was released from custody on unsecured bail.

According to court records: Lehigh County detectives were informed on March 1 about a then 14-month-old child who had been admitted to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest on Feb. 26 for respiratory problems.

The child was examined, treated and cleared for discharge on Feb. 27, but at 12:52 p.m. that day, the toddler went into distress, continuously coughing, gagging and throwing up. Tretter was the only person in the room with the child prior to the sudden medical emergency.

At 1:30 p.m., a relative of the family arrived and Tretter went out to smoke her vape pen. The child slept while the family member was present and was watched by hospital staff. The relative had to leave for work and Tretter was once again the sole person in the room with the child aside from checkups from medical staff.

At 3:34 p.m., the child began to have seizures and was once more coughing, gagging and vomiting. A pediatric intensive care team determined that the child’s symptoms were indicative of a possible poisoning. Blood was drawn and the child’s nicotine level was found to be extremely high.

At 4:02 p.m., hospital staff noticed that Tretter was acting “odd” around her child, even though the toddler had started to respond well to treatment. At 6:15 p.m., Tretter alerted hospital

staff that the child was vomiting after his oxygen supply was removed from his nose. His heart rate climbed to dangerous levels and hospital staff noticed a fruity smell in the room.

When asked whether she slipped him any of the vape oil from her pen, Tretter said, “No, that would kill him.”

At 6:30 p.m., the child was intubated and Tretter began moving equipment around the room and recording her son on her phone. She was repeatedly told to stop touching and adjusting equipment.

More toxicology samples taken in the early hours of Feb. 28 showed deadly high levels of nicotine and cotinine, which is found in vape oil. Doctors determined that the toddler must have ingested the oil in order to have such toxins in his bloodstream.

Tretter was ordered to be removed from the hospital room.

When confronted about why she provided vape oil to her baby, Tretter began to cry. Eventually she admitted to giving the oil to the child, but court records did not indicate whether the mother explained why she did so.

A message left with an attorney for the Lehigh County public defender’s office, which is representing Tretter, was not immediately returned Friday.