Silke Jasso
An 18-month-old Ohio child is recovering the hospital after passing out from what authorities believe may have been a heroin overdose. Witness Laura Royal, who used to baby sit the little girl’s mother and lives in the same building, notified police on Tuesday of the incident.
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“When I actually looked back at the baby, she was blue,” she said, adding that when she entered the home, the toddler’s father Jason Bolden was refusing to take his daughter to the hospital out of fear that he would be arrested. “He kept on saying it was her sugar. He knew.”
When the police officer was taken to the child’s location, he found her unconscious and having difficulty breathing. He also found her mother Brandy Estep unresponsive in the home and was told she may have been overdosing as well. Captain Lynn Brewer said that while toxicology reports are still underway, both mother and child were partially revived with Narcan, an emergency treatment for opioid overdoses.
“It’s heart-wrenching, especially when you have kids of your own and you can relate to what’s going on,” Brewer said. “At that age, everything goes into their mouths. They pick it up, they stick in in their mouth. I don’t care what it is. That’s why you have to be so careful about keeping an eye on your kids.”
According to Royal, the toddler’s sibling noticed that some of their parents’ drugs were missing and believes the child ingested them by accident. Both Estep and the toddler were transported to the Southern Ohio Medical Center. From there, the young girl was airlifted to Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, where she was in serious but guarded condition and is expected to recover.
Both Bolden and Epstep face felony charges for child endangering and face up to three years in prison if convicted. Police believe additional charges may be filed.
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