The mother of a toddler who died with the opioid oxycodone in her system has repeatedly wept while giving evidence at a coronial inquest and denies ever giving her daughter the drug.
West Australian coroner Barry King is investigating the May 2012 death of two-year-old Armarnie-Bree Elliott after she contracted pneumonia.
Her mother Brook Joyce Elliott testified on Tuesday that she believed Armarnie had a disability but it was not confirmed until after her death that she had Angelman's syndrome, a disorder characterised by intellectual and developmental delay, and a usually happy demeanour.
Ms Elliott cried while explaining how they had been living at a women's refuge for 10 days and she knew "something was up" with Armarnie.
"Because of her syndrome, she was always the same, so I had to know when she was hungry, I had to know when she was tired," she said.
"I couldn't tell if she was in pain ... it was very hard because she couldn't talk."
Ms Elliott said Armarnie was "glued" to her hip and needed special care, including weekly therapy, but it did not make her love her daughter less.
"My life revolved around my daughter," she said.
Ms Elliott denied giving her daughter oxycodone and did not know how it ended up in her system.
She admitted having been a heroin user but used methadone when she became pregnant and another medication after Armarnie was born to get clean.
Allegations that Armarnie was present when Ms Elliott helped make methylamphetamine in a house in the month before her death were also refuted and Mr King said the theory that the toddler was exposed to oxycodone there had been disproved.
Ms Elliott wept while explaining she signed a statement despite errors in it, but did not think it affected the police investigation into Armarnie's death.
"I was going through one of the most traumatic experiences of my life and I just wanted them to go away so I could grieve," she said.
Toxicologist David Anthony Joyce said Armarnie's risk of death was probably increased by the oxycodone.
Gerard Andrew Cadden conducted the autopsy and said the pneumonia could have been life-threatening if untreated, but said the illness had probably developed in less than 24 hours.
Dr Cadden concurred with Professor Joyce that oxycodone suppressed the respiratory system, but added that the extent of the oxycodone's contribution to Armarnie's death was uncertain.
Counsel assisting the coroner Kate Ellson said in her closing submissions that there was insufficient evidence to make adverse findings against Ms Elliott and it could not be referred to police or prosecutors.
She suggested Mr King make an open finding because it could not be determined if the death arose by accident or natural causes.
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