An Indiana couple was arrested and charged with felony child neglect after their six-month-old baby overdosed on fentanyl and methamphetamine.
The baby also had bad diaper rash, pulmonary edema and a staph infection.
Nichole Neely, 42, and Owen Miller, 43, each face one case of negligence resulting in death of a dependent and two cases of negligence where they placed the dependent in a dangerous situation, according to a report from WNDU .
The child was found unconscious and not breathing after a concerned neighbor called police on January 18.
The child was taken to hospital but was pronounced dead.
WNDU reports:
In an interview with authorities, Neely told investigators that the child was lying in her bedroom with Miller when she went into the kitchen for 10 minutes. When she returned, she said the baby was limp and not breathing and that they had tried to take him to a neighbor who worked in the medical field.
Another neighbor then visited the child’s home, where they found the 6-month-old unresponsive and blue and proceeded to attempt CPR.
Police say when they arrived at the home, they found trash on the floor, counters and kitchen table. They also found open containers of moldy, fly-covered food in the kitchen, accompanied by a strong odor of trash and rotting food throughout the house.
Court documents highlight the state of disrepair the house was in, so full of rubbish that the police were only able to open the bedroom door halfway. Police discovered a baby bottle on the bed containing a brown liquid with a small fly floating inside.
Miller was overdosing when police arrived and was treated with Narcan.
Two other children, aged six and eight, were also taken to hospital and treated for fentanyl poisoning.