Man accused of deadly toddler overdose wants out of jail

Breanna Edelstein, The Eagle-Tribune, North Andover, Mass.
·3 min read

Apr. 6—BRENTWOOD — A 32-year-old man accused of causing his toddler's overdose death at a truck stop in Londonderry last year believes he is not a threat to the public and wants to be freed from jail while awaiting trial.

Mark Geremia, through his attorney Nicholas Howie, asked a judge Monday afternoon to release him on an ankle bracelet and any other restrictions recommended in a pretrial screening.

Geremia provided the name and address of a friend in Tilton with whom he planned to stay. His attorney said Geremia would continue suboxone treatment for addiction issues.

Judge Martin Honigberg, however, sided with Prosecutor Kristin Vartanian, who has continually categorized Geremia as a threat to himself, his remaining children and the general public.

Vartanian pointed out in court that "a quick Google search" of the friend Geremia mentioned has a history of criminal drug activity.

Geremia was arrested earlier this year alongside the mother of his children, 29-year-old Shawna Cote. According to investigators, the parents got high in the cab of a pickup truck with their two girls and friend Dana Dolan, 25, who is also criminally charged in connection to the overdose death.

The adults would sometimes fall asleep after using, leaving the girls unsupervised, police said. The three are said to have woken up to the younger girl dead and covered in white powder early on the morning of Nov.16, 2020.

Geremia and Cote have three children together, including the 2-year-old girl who died soon after being rushed from RMZ truck stop to Parkland Medical Center. A newborn boy — who showed immediate signs of heroin addiction at birth — and a 5-year-old girl are now in the care of family members and DCYF.

The parents face a long list of charges, most notably negligent homicide, a special felony charge of manslaughter and falsifying physical evidence, according to court documents.

Geremia was additionally charged with possessing child sex abuse images after investigators said they found cell phone photos of his young daughters sprawled out nude while asleep.

Attorney Howie this week said the photographs require context, and that his client took them to show DCYF investigators previously involved with the family that the younger girl did not have a diaper rash.

That girl, who has not been named publicly and is instead referred to by initials, was dirty and malnourished when she died of the overdose, according to investigators.

Nurses at Parkland similarly describe her older sister. Vartanian said in court Monday that the surviving girl needs all of her teeth removed because of rot.

At Monday's hearing, Vartanian once again described Geremia's "lack of seriousness," claiming he does not have a grasp on the severity of the charges he faces.

"In 65 calls over the last 30 days (in jail), he doesn't mention (his daughter) by name once," the prosecutor said. "The only reference to her is saying he deserves sympathy 'because he lost a (expletive) kid.'"

Geremia is currently held in Rockingham County Jail, where he spends 23 hours a day in his cell.

In arguing that he should not be let out of police custody, Vartanian provided transcripts and recordings of other jailhouse calls in which Geremia says he should have done a better job running from the U.S. Marshals who arrested him, and if he were to get out he would flee to China.

"I want out," he said during a recorded conversation with his dad played in court. "All you got to prove is I'm not a danger to society."

Judge Honigberg said he believes that Geremia has a tendency to "protect himself over anyone else," and for that reason will remain in jail until trial.

Cote and Dolan are being tried separately.

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