A Nesquehoning woman admitted to snorting drugs the night before she awoke to find her infant son not breathing in February 2024.

Michelle Canzoneri, 39, of East Garibaldi Avenue, was charged Saturday with involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of children, possession of a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia.

District Judge William J. Kissner set bail at $100,000, and Canzoneri was remanded to the Carbon County Correctional Facility in Nesquehoning.

According to court papers, Canzoneri called 911 the morning of Feb. 8, 2024, to report that she woke up and found that her son was not breathing.

She could be heard screaming, while a dispatcher explained how to perform rescue breathing on the baby, the arrest papers said. Nesquehoning Officer Carl Breiner responded to the home at 8 Rhume St., and began CPR on the infant.

The baby was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital, Miners Campus, where he was pronounced dead at 11 a.m. An autopsy showed the infant, identified by the Carbon County coroner as 5-month-old Nathan Kostak, died from asphyxia, court papers said.

Canzoneri told Breiner that the baby had been sleeping in a crib on the second floor of home when she discovered him unresponsive lying on his stomach. She said that she put the baby down for a nap a half-hour before discovering him unresponsive.

State police arrived and found a bassinet on the third-floor, attic bedroom with a television on. The linen of the bed was disturbed and there was a partially filled baby bottle and blood on the linen, court papers said.

Police also found a crib in a child’s room in the second-floor bedroom, which had not been used recently, and an adult bedroom on the second floor that was not disturbed.

Troopers spoke to then Nesquehoning Police Chief Mike Weaver, who related prior contacts with Canzoneri and the infant’s father and both were known heroin users with criminal histories and past drug convictions.

Canzoneri went to Lehighton barracks, where she was interviewed at 1 p.m. She told troopers that she and infant were home alone watching television in the attic bedroom.

The baby began to fall asleep, Canzoneri told police, and she placed him in the bassinet on his back around 9:37 a.m. She went to the bathroom, smoked a cigarette outside and checked on him at 10 a.m., finding him on his stomach and not breathing, court papers said.

Canzoneri called 911, transferred the baby to the bed to do CPR, and then moved the baby to the floor, per the dispatcher’s instructions, she told police.

When asked about drugs in the house, Canzoneri said that she and the baby’s father were prescribed Suboxone, and that she was prescribed Klonopin, of which there were leftovers in the house she hadn’t taken, court papers said. She said she did not take any controlled substances on Feb. 8.

Canzoneri told police she did take 12 mg of Suboxone at 11 a.m. and .5 mg of Klonopin at 5 p.m. the day before, Feb. 7. She then took an additional .5 mg of Klonopin at 1 a.m. Feb. 8, before going to sleep.

Troopers obtained a warrant for her blood and clothing. Canzoneri’s blood contained clonazepam, aminoclonazepam, amphetamine, methamphetamine, fentanyl and norfentanyl, a metabolite of fentanyl.

Troopers also executed a search warrant at 8 Rhume St., the home where this occurred. Among the items found were a small plastic bag with suspected fentanyl, syringes and empty stamped bags known by police to be used to store heroin/fentanyl.

They also tested other items for drugs, including: a cut straw with residue from methamphetamine, fentanyl and Xylazine, also known as Tranq; a glass coaster with fentanyl residue.

Also tested were a VOGUE coaster with methamphetamine and fentanyl residue; container with hard waxy substance containing THC, psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant or marijuana; and small baggie with white powder which contained heroin, fluorofentanyl, methamphetamine, fentanyl and Xylazine.

Troopers also obtained a recording of the 911 call, which demonstrates contradictory statements made by Canzoneri, arrest papers said.

Canzoneri told a dispatcher that she woke up and found the baby on his stomach, blue and bleeding from his mouth. The dispatcher asked if the baby was breathing and how old he was. Canzoneri said four months old, and that she didn’t know if he was breathing.

The dispatcher began giving her instructions to do CPR, and told her that an ambulance and police were dispatched, Canzoneri responded, “Oh my God, I think he’s dead, isn’t he?”

On April 20, 2024, troopers located Canzoneri on a bench along Nesquehoning Creek and she agreed to be interviewed. She said lied about her drug use after being shown her blood test results, court papers said.

Canzoneri was asked if she fell asleep with the baby, and she became very emotional and was crying for some time, police said.

Canzoneri said she snorted drugs the night before, put the baby in bed with her and put the movie, “Despicable Me,” on the television, but was not interested. She said she was exhausted from drug use and taking care of the baby, and wasn’t sure if she nodded off or fell asleep, but only lost track of time for a few minutes, court papers said.

Forensic pathologist Dr. Michael Johnson in his autopsy report said the child’s death was sudden and unexpected and suspicious for asphyxia, court papers said.

A preliminary hearing before District Judge Beth Dodson is scheduled for March 26.