A 26-year-old man was convicted of child endangerment Tuesday, for the overdose death of his 4-month-old son last year in Bensalem.
Daniel Scott Howarth was found guilty by Bucks County Common Pleas Judge Gary B. Gilman on charges of child endangerment, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia. He was sentenced to one year less one day to two years less one day in the Bucks County Correctional Facility followed by five years of probation.
Howarth cannot be granted parole without entering a long-term drug treatment plan, the judge ordered. During the two-day waiver trial that began on Monday, Gilman heard testimony from Bensalem Police Officers and Detectives who responded to 4900 block of Oak Avenue to try and save the baby.
Emotional bodycam footage was played during the trial, showing police and paramedics attempting to save the baby. Additionally, photos were presented as evidence that showed a home in disarray with trash, dirty dishes and old food scattered about and drug baggies, syringes, and a tourniquet inside the bedroom where the baby slept.
“That was one of the worst things I’ve seen in my life,” Gilman said. “Looking at that house, that baby never had a chance.”
Besides Howarth, the baby’s mother and grandmother have also been charged in the case. On Monday, Donna Westmoreland, the baby’s grandmother, pleaded no contest to child endangerment and was sentenced to one year of probation. Felicity Westmoreland, the baby’s mother, previously pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child endangerment. She was sentenced Tuesday to 11 ½ to 23 months in county jail followed by three consecutive years of probation.
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