Police search for grandmother after boy dies from meth poisoning

SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. - A grandmother is on the run after being charged with felony murder for the meth-induced death of her 9-month-old grandson.

The little boy's parents are pleading for the public's help finding 45-year-old Tonya Danyial Monroe. Police said the infant died after ingesting meth at an apartment in Sandy Springs, but his parents have since moved to Woodstock.

Sandy Springs Police said 9-month-old Koby Connelly died from a meth overdose in an apartment in Sandy Springs in March. His grandmother has been charged with felony murder, possession of methamphetamine and cruelty to children after toxicology tests revealed Koby ingested meth.

Taylor and Hayden Shaw, Koby’s parents, are wondering how he got the meth. The couple said they were staying with Monroe when Koby somehow ingested meth. The couple said it's unfathomable their son accidentally stumbled upon the drugs since he had a degenerative spine disorder, known as PCH.

“Pontocerebellare Hypoplasia… He couldn't walk, he couldn't talk, like he couldn't even sit up on his own, he could not hold a bottle, he could not physically put anything in his mouth, we had to do everything for him,” said Hayden Shaw.

Taylor and Hayden said they last spoke to Tanya Monroe about a week ago when she said she was moving in with a boyfriend in the Acworth or Cartersville area. Police said she has disappeared and is believed driving a 2004 Toyota Four Runner with a Georgia tag of RAL 9819.

"At this time, we're hoping to get anyone that has any information on her to contact us at once,” said Sandy Springs Police Department Captain Mike Lindstrom

The couple said they learned Koby died of a meth overdose last Tuesday from investigators.

“He said ‘I’m a homicide detective,’ and as soon as she said that, well, we had asked him why he was here and he said ‘Your son has been murdered,” said Taylor.

Murdered, allegedly at the hands of his own grandmother, a woman Taylor said had a checkered past. The couple told me they believed Koby had died from complications of PCH.

“That’s what gets me is I could still have my son, we could have spent Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and his birthday, his birthday was May 31st,” said Hayden