A Norristown mother was sentenced to state prison after admitting to causing her 6-year-old son’s overdose

Montgomery County Court Judge Wendy Rothstein spared no words for Kristen Sabatino on Monday: She had repeatedly failed to protect her son, and that cost the child his life.

“We’re here because a 6-year-old boy is no longer with us,” she said of Dominic Lyons as Sabatino pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, endangering the welfare of a child, and conspiracy to possess drugs in connection with his July 2023 overdose on opioids.

“His mother was supposed to nurture and protect him,” Rothstein said. “Instead, his mother endangered him.”

Sabatino, 32, declined to speak before Rothstein sentenced her to 2½ to 5 years in state prison, followed by five years of probation in connection with Dominic’s death and for violating her probation in a 2017 case in which she was found overdosed on top of her then-infant son.

Police in Norristown were called to Sabatino’s apartment on Willow Street on July 16, 2023, for reports that Dominic was unresponsive. Medics found him cold to the touch, and he was pronounced dead not long afterward.

Blood tests revealed the boy had high levels of fentanyl and xylazine in his system — doctors later concluded he must have ingested the narcotics.

Detectives found evidence that between August 2022 and her son’s death in July of the following year, Sabatino had routinely asked her boyfriend, Matthew Santiago, to purchase fentanyl and other drugs for her. Drug paraphernalia was found strewn about the apartment that Sabatino and Santiago shared with Dominic and their daughter, who was 3 years old at the time of their arrests.

Santiago, 35, pleaded guilty to similar charges late last month, and Rothstein sentenced him to two to five years in state prison.

Dominic’s father, Hussein Lyons, addressed Sabatino in court on Monday and chastised her for her silence and lack of an apology.

“No one is addressing this in the courtroom, not even to say sorry,” he said. “To be a parent and show no emotion is disgusting.”

Afterward, Sabatino’s attorney, Scott Frame, said he was satisfied with the sentence negotiated with prosecutors.

“We’re just happy that Kristen is going to get the treatment that she needs after all these years,” Frame said. “I think it was a good result, and she can move on with her life.”

Sabatino had been previously arrested for drug possession, including in 2017, when police in Upper Providence Township found her overdosed on heroin with her head resting on the then-infant Dominic’s chest, according to court records. Officers revived her with naloxone. Dominic was not injured.

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She later pleaded guilty to endangering the welfare of a child and was sentenced to seven years’ probation.

At the time of Dominic’s death, Sabatino was already under supervision from the county Office of Children and Youth for a 2022 incident in which she overdosed on oxycodone while driving and caused a crash. Her then-13-month-old daughter was in the car at the time.

Deputy District Attorney Brianna Ringwood said after Monday’s hearing that while no sentence could bring Dominic back, she believed justice had been served.

“I do think that what we saw today is a mom who made a lot of choices that led to where we are, and she accepted responsibility by pleading guilty,” Ringwood said. “Unfortunately, her acceptance of responsibility for her life choices came too late to save Dominic, but I’m hoping there is some good that can come out of this, as far as treatment and recovery.”