Baldwin man gets 18 to 36 years in drug overdose death of infant son

Allegheny County Police Detective Greg Renko remains haunted by the scene he found inside a home on Baldwin’s Oakleaf Road 2-1/2 years ago.

Renko went to the red-brick Cape Cod home on Sept. 13, 2020, to investigate the death of a 12-month-old boy. The boy, as it turned out, had been born just three days after Renko’s own daughter.

Inside, Renko found stamp bags of heroin strewn about tabletops and floors. Doses of Narcan. Syringes. A straw for snorting drugs. All of it strikingly at odds with what the veteran homicide detective also found. A child’s pack-and-play. Baby snack puffs. Diapers. A brand-new crib still in its packaging.

That’s why on Thursday, as Thomas Snelsire, 48, was being sentenced to 18 to 36 years in prison for third-degree murder in the drug-overdose death of his infant son, Renko felt compelled to give victim impact testimony.

In cases like this, such testimony is usually offered by relatives and friends of murder victims. It’s the first time anyone could remember a detective doing so.

“We know we have to deal with extreme trauma and emotion investigating,” Renko told Common Pleas Judge Kevin G. Sasinoski. “This case haunts myself, the scientists that had to respond and the other detectives.

“This case has affected so many people.”

Thomas “Tommy” Humphreys, affectionately known by his family as “Chuck” because he had a big head like Charlie Brown, was found dead inside the Baldwin home around 4 p.m. that day.

When medical personnel arrived, according to the criminal complaint, it was clear that the boy had died several hours earlier.

Both of Tommy’s parents were charged and ultimately pleaded guilty to third-degree murder. Tracy Humphreys, Tommy’s mother, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12. Tracy Humphreys, 47, is being held in Butler County Prison after overdosing several times at Allegheny County Jail.

During the couple’s plea hearing in September, Assistant District Attorney Lisa Carey told the judge that Tommy was born dependent on heroin and fentanyl and spent his first days at Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh.

When detectives did a search of the drug den in the basement of the home, they found a syringe used to administer medication to children and a pill bottle that had a mixture of liquid Tylenol and methadone in it.

Tommy’s parents had been dosing him, the prosecutor said.

The bed shared by Snelsire and Tracy Humphreys was against one wall with Tommy’s pack-and-play sitting at the foot of the bed. A dresser sat crammed against the other side of the pack-and-play.

An array of alcohol was found on top of the dresser. Underneath it, police said they found a hard-sided eyeglasses case that was being used as a heroin kit — it contained needles, empty stamp bags and shoestring.

The floor was littered with empty stamp bags. What appeared to be rocks of crack cocaine were drying on a paper plate on another dresser, according to the complaint.

“The environment in that house that child was forced to live in was the worst scene I’ve put myself in,” Renko said.

He said there was so much drug evidence, it took eight hours to collect it all.

“All I could imagine was my little daughter in that position,” the detective said.

While the case was pending, Renko said he came to know Tommy’s grandparents and aunts.

“I truly believe more than one person has died inside,” he said. “Their souls are completely crushed.”

During Thursday’s hearing, Snelsire apologized to his family.

Sobbing and hunched over in what appeared to be physical pain, Snelsire kept repeating, “I’m so sorry.

“It’s so painful. It doesn’t get any easier. I’m sorry for everything I’ve done to our family. Please know I loved that kid,” he said.

His sister, Samantha Snelsire, wrote a letter to the court about her brother.

“All he ever wanted was a little boy,” she said. “My brother did everything for him. My brother will be forever imprisoned in his own mind. The brother I once knew died of a broken heart.”

Sasinoski appeared to be unmoved, commenting not only on the conditions of the house where Tommy died, but on his father’s extensive criminal record.

“Everyone in life is entitled to a second chance, and sometimes, even a third, fourth or fifth chance,” the judge said.

Then Sasinoski read the years of each of Snelsire’s arrests: 1998, 1999, 1999, 1999, 1999, 2002, 2011, 2011, 2011, 2014, 2016, 2016, 2018, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2020, 2020.

“You had a lot of chances and a lot of opportunities,” the judge said.