PIERCE COUNTY, Wash. — The Pierce County Sheriff's Department (PCSD) said it responded to a pair of fentanyl overdoses involving young children over the weekend, including one that was fatal.
PCSD said deputies responded to a home in Spanaway early Saturday morning after a man called 911 reporting his 2-year-old daughter was not breathing. Upon arrival, deputies and paramedics said the child was dead. The father told deputies he fell asleep with his daughter and when he woke up around 4:20 a.m., she was non-responsive.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office informed PCSD on Monday that the child had a "significant amount of fentanyl in her system."
Detectives returned to the home and reinterviewed the father along with serving a search warrant. The 33-year-old father was arrested on suspicion of manslaughter.
In another case, PCSD responded to a call of CPR in progress on Sunday around 7:40 a.m. Deputies were told a man dropped a piece of foil onto the floor that a 6-month-old child put into her mouth. Detectives found a burned piece of aluminum foil "which is typically used to smoke fentanyl pills," according to the police report.
The infant was taken to the hospital in stable condition, while her 3-year-old brother was evaluated at the hospital and tested positive for fentanyl exposure.
The father of the children, Mitchel Lee Anderson, was arrested at the scene and charged with reckless endangerment in a Pierce County court on Monday.
"These two tragic incidents could have easily been prevented," PCSD included in its blotter post about the cases. "Fentanyl is extremely dangerous and has no place in a home with children. Anyone struggling with drug addiction should seek treatment. This is a continuing problem in all of our communities in Pierce County, Washington State, and the rest of the United States."