Doctor accused in granddaughter’s death dies

Toddler overdosed in York County home

A physician charged with felony child neglect in the death of his 22-month-old granddaughter has died, his attorney said.

Timothy Lee Raines, 61, a family doctor who practiced in Hampton, faced up to five years in prison after his granddaughter died in 2022 of an accidental fentanyl overdose in his home in the Kiln Creek subdivision of York County.

Attorney Thomas K. Norment Jr. said Raines died of an apparent heart attack.

On the morning of July 7, 2022, Delilah Jean Gunn was found motionless on a bedroom floor in Raines’ home.

A state medical examiner’s report said Delilah died after accidentally ingesting a combination of fentanyl and xylazine.

Delilah was living with her parents, Anna Elizabeth Raines and Jesse Alan Gunn, in Timothy Raines’ home. Anna Raines — Timothy’s daughter — and Gunn were charged in 2022 with child neglect and felony homicide, which carried a sentence of up to 45 years in prison.

The parents pleaded guilty Oct. 3 to a reduced charge of voluntary manslaughter and child neglect. Both were sentenced to 11 years in prison, with four additional years suspended.

Norment had been pursuing a plea agreement for his client.

The evidence against Timothy Raines on the child neglect charge included text messages to his daughter questioning her sobriety and talking about how bad the living conditions were, according to a criminal complaint.

“That is an unacceptable environment for a 16-month-old,” he wrote in one message, according to a criminal complaint.

“Mr. Raines had firsthand knowledge of the neglect going on under his roof,” the complaint asserted. But “he failed to act on his misgivings.”