PICKAWAY COUNTY, Ohio — Officers arrested a mother on Tuesday, more than a week after she was criminally charged in the death of her 17-month-old daughter.
Columbus Division of Police officers took 30-year-old Brittany Stroud into custody Tuesday morning, according to the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office.
On Oct. 13, around 11:15 a.m., the sheriff’s office responded to an apartment in the 7800 block of High Street in Orient after a report that a 1-year-old girl was not breathing.
Medics took the girl to Nationwide Children’s Hospital, where staff pronounced her dead.
An autopsy the next day found a fatal amount of fentanyl in the 17-month-old’s system.
Deputies met Stroud at the scene, and she identified herself as the child’s mother, the sheriff’s office said.
Detectives later learned that a court order barred Brittany Stroud from having unsupervised visits with the child. The girl was supposed to be in the custody of 52-year-old Tammy Stroud, Brittany’s mother, the sheriff’s office said.
Circleville Municipal Court records show Franklin County Children Services had an open case against Brittany Stroud since her daughter’s birth because she had drugs in her system.
Court documents state the infant was born prematurely and doctors diagnosed her with neonatal abstinence syndrome after she tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine. FCCS placed the baby with a foster family until December 2025, when custody moved to her grandmother, Tammy Stroud.
When authorities arrived on Oct. 13, Tammy Stroud was at work, records state. She had left the infant unsupervised with Brittany Stroud, even though she knew about her daughter’s long history of drug use.
10 Investigates obtained the 911 call from that day.
On the call, Brittany tells dispatchers her daughter came into the room where she was sleeping hours earlier.
“She would have (come) in after my mom went to work, so around 5 o’clock, 5 or 6 this morning,” she said.
Court records show Brittany called for help shortly after she woke up at 11 a.m.
“You do not think CPR will help at all at this point?” the dispatcher asked.
“No, ma’am, no,” said Brittany.
Investigators said FCCS was trying to remove the child from Tammy Stroud’s home. On earlier visits, caseworkers saw Brittany Stroud inside the house and believed she was living there, which violated the court order.
According to court documents, the agency said the grandmother was not communicating or being honest about where her daughter was living.
FCCS also told investigators that Brittany Stroud had another baby in May 2026. Doctors diagnosed that child with neonatal abstinence syndrome, and the baby was placed in her biological father’s custody.
“Brittany at the time had stated she consumed fentanyl daily as she ‘gets sick,'” court records said.
Brittany Stroud faces charges of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and possession of a controlled substance.
Tammy Stroud turned herself in to the sheriff’s office on Oct. 18, officials said. She faces charges of complicity to involuntary manslaughter, complicity to child endangerment and complicity to possession of a controlled substance.
A judge arraigned Tammy Stroud last week and set her bond at $250,000. On Monday, her case was bound over to Pickaway County Common Pleas Court.
Brittany Stroud was arraigned Tuesday afternoon, and a judge set her bond at $500,000. Her next hearing is set for Nov. 6.
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