Inquest into the Death of Armarnie-Bree ELLIOTT
Deceased
Armarnie-Bree Elliott
Demographics
2y, female
Date of death
2012-05-03
Finding date
2015-07-22
Cause of death
pneumonia in a child with reported recent flu-like illness (multiple viral detection including adenovirus DNA and enterovirus/rhinovirus RNA – respiratory system) and oxycodone effect
AI-generated summary
Armarnie-Bree Elliott, a 2-year-old with Angelman syndrome, died from pneumonia complicated by oxycodone toxicity. She developed flu-like symptoms in late April while at a women's refuge. On 2 May evening, appearing increasingly unwell with respiratory symptoms, her mother gave non-prescription cough and pain relief medications. At 3:30 am on 3 May, she was found unresponsive with blue lips and vomit. Despite CPR and hospital resuscitation, she could not be revived. Post-mortem examination revealed severe pneumonia with adenovirus and enterovirus/rhinovirus; toxicology detected toxic-level oxycodone. The oxycodone source remains unknown; the child's tendency to mouth objects left open accidental ingestion possibility. Toxicologists concluded oxycodone suppressed respiratory drive, though pneumonia was inherently life-threatening. Early recognition of acute respiratory distress and urgent medical evaluation might have altered the outcome, but illness progressed rapidly.
AI-generated summary and tagging — may contain inaccuracies; refer to original finding for legal purposes.
Drugs involved
Clinical conditions
Contributing factors
- viral respiratory infection (adenovirus and enterovirus/rhinovirus)
- oxycodone toxicity
- aspiration
- Angelman syndrome predisposing to aspiration
Full text
Related cases
Source and disclaimer
This page reproduces or summarises information from publicly available findings published by Australian coroners' courts. Coronial is an independent educational resource and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of any coronial court or government body.
Content may be incomplete, reformatted, or summarised. All court orders for redaction and non-publication are respected; documents with technically defective redaction have been excluded from the database entirely. Always refer to the original court publication for the authoritative record.
Copyright in original materials remains with the relevant government jurisdiction. AI-generated summaries and tagging are for educational purposes only, may contain inaccuracies, and must not be treated as legal documents. We welcome feedback for correction —