A mother and father from Curtis Bay have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, more than eight months after their infant son overdosed on fentanyl, according to the Maryland Judiciary.

Court records show Brooke Houck was issued a criminal summons Wednesday in Brooklyn, though as of Friday, her husband Nathan Houck had not. Neither immediately responded to a request for comment.

On July 21, shortly before 11 p.m., Anne Arundel Police responded to the Houcks’ home in Curtis Bay, a couple of blocks from Stony Creek, according to charging documents. Paramedics took the baby, who was not named in court filings, to an emergency room but attempts to revive him failed, police said. He was 20 months old.

According to charging documents, both parents told detectives their family had been watching a movie and didn’t notice until the end that the baby wasn’t breathing.

Before and after their son’s death, they provided a “hypothesis” to detectives that the child “may have accidentally suffocated himself in the cushion of the couch,” police said.

An autopsy later confirmed the boy died from an overdose of fentanyl and other opiate derivatives, according to charging documents. Police said no findings supported the mother’s suffocation theory.

Detectives said Brooke Houck was open about a recent relapse, telling them she didn’t believe there were any drugs in the house “that the children could find.” Police said the Houcks had three other children between the ages of 6 and 8 living with them, as well as dogs and cats.

In the same interview with police, Brooke Houck said her children would bring her a pill if they found one in the house, adding there was a “small chance” that the baby had found an empty drug capsule.

Police described the condition of the house as “deplorable,” with dirty diapers, pet excrement and rotting food covering the furniture. According to charging documents, the infant was wearing dirty and soiled clothing. In addition to involuntary manslaughter, Brooke and Nathan Houck were each charged with one count of neglect of a minor, a misdemeanor.

As of Friday afternoon, an attorney had not been assigned to represent either parent.

According to the Maryland Judiciary, the Houcks have previously been charged in connection to their treatment of children, including truancy charges that were placed on the stet, or inactive, docket, and a probation before judgment ruling in Allegany County.

The death of the Houck infant occurred less than a month before 2-year-old Neveah Dunscomb’s fatal overdose in Glen Burnie.

According to charging documents, Tiffany Carr, Neveah’s mother, had ingested fentanyl in the family’s apartment. Carr took drugs earlier in the day and had been fading in and out of sleep most of the afternoon, police said.

Carr’s “glass homemade” pipe was found “in plain sight,” and police said they recovered two capsules from the scene.

Neveah died on Aug. 17 and her mother was charged Sept. 27, court records show.

Carr failed to appear at a January hearing and was sought by authorities for three weeks. She has since been arrested and is being held at the Jennifer Road Detention Center without bail. Her trial is scheduled to begin in August.

Have a news tip? Contact Luke Parker at lparker@baltsun.com, 410-725-6214 and x.com/@lparkernews.