Man sentenced in granddaughter’s death

Published 9:11 pm Monday, December 17, 2012

The grandfather of a 2-year-old girl who died last year after ingesting a prescription drug kept in a candy container at her grandparents’ home was sentenced to nearly eight years in prison Monday.

Steven Wade Bullock, 51, will serve seven years and nine months for the death of his granddaughter, Destiny Riddick. Officials determined she ingested suboxone, a prescription drug used to treat opiate dependence, prosecutors said.

Bullock

Police and rescue personnel were summoned to the 1100 block of Truman Road on July 17, 2011, in reference to a child not breathing. The girl was later pronounced dead at the hospital.

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The drug, which had been purchased on the street three days before, was kept in a Mentos candy container and placed under a pillow in the master bedroom.

Bullock pleaded guilty to the charges against him, which included involuntary manslaughter, neglect of child with serious injury, possession of a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess a controlled substance and possession of marijuana.

The child’s grandmother, Kimberly Denise Artis, 40, also pleaded guilty and faces sentencing at a later date that has not yet been set. She is charged with involuntary manslaughter, neglect of a child with serious injury, possession of a controlled substance and conspiracy to possess a controlled substance.