COATESVILLE, PA (KYW Newsradio) — A Coatesville couple has been arrested and charged with the murder of their 8-year-old son last summer.
Authorities say on July 26, 2023, around 2:30 a.m., 40-year-old Holly Back and 41-year-old Mousa Hawa called 911 when they found the boy wedged between a wall and a recliner, unresponsive with no pulse.
According to a 13-page affidavit of probable cause, illegal drugs and paraphernalia were scattered around the room where the 8-year-old was found, including baggies that tests show contained heroin and fentanyl.
The boy was taken to the hospital, but the criminal complaint says a Coatesville police detective described Hawa as “more concerned about law enforcement searching his house than going to the hospital.”
The affidavit says tests of the boy’s hair show exposure to fentanyl prior to the night he overdosed. The medical examiner ruled the boy’s death was the result of fentanyl, morphine and cocaine intoxication.
The charging documents list numerous prior cases of drug use by Hawa and Back. And it quotes both parents saying they told the boy not to touch the drugs, calling it “their medicine,” and telling him it would kill him.
Authorities say the boy’s medical history shows a pattern of neglect and suspected abuse.
Back and Hawa are charged with third-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child and related counts.