TULSA, Okla. — The Tulsa Police Department arrested a 25-year-old mother wanted for second-degree murder after her daughter died of fentanyl poisoning.
Njerin Samuel's 2-year-old daughter was taken to the hospital in critical condition on Feb. 1, according to court documents.
Eric Jones, believed to be in a relationship with Samuel, called 911. He told the dispatcher he found the child outside when he got home and said she must have eaten something from outside.
At the hospital, investigators learned the child had fentanyl in her system.
When police questioned Jones, they said he gave a different story. He told police when he got home, he found the child unresponsive in bed with Samuel and not outside. They said Samuel told them Jones woke her up to tell her something was wrong with the toddler.
According to court documents, Samuel also said she saw blue residue around the toddler's nose. The toddler died on Feb. 3 after being removed from life support.
Police said four other children lived in the home, all under the age of six.
Officers talked to Samuel's 5-year-old son, who said he saw the 2-year-old "get into mommy's blue nose medicine" in the drawer by her bed.
Officers said they found evidence Jones knew of Samuel's fentanyl use, and she kept it in the apartment where they lived with five children.
Jones is charged with child neglect. He's also been convicted on two previous convictions for possession of a controlled drug with intent to distribute. He was arrested on May 30.
Samuel was already involved in a DHS investigation after giving birth to a child in September 2023 and testing positive for fentanyl.
Police arrested Samuel on April 1.
2 News spoke with a Hillcrest Medical System emergency physician Dr. Jeff Johnson, who said he recognized a shift in the frequency of situations similar to this one.
"Children come into the emergency room fairly frequently, more frequently than we would like to see, after accidentally ingesting their parents drugs or medications and those can be prescription medications or recreational drugs," said Johnson.
According to a 2020 report from the Department of Human Services, in cases where a delivering mother is allegedly using, 1,024 newborns were born exposed. Of those babies, just under 1 in 10 of them were considerably impacted and showed withdrawal symptoms.
Dr. Johnson said the most common drug he sees in the E.R. is marijuana - it's also the most common substance in the DHS report. One piece of importance, regardless of the substance, is the amount ingested, he said.
"Many medications that an adult would take would be way too much for a child based on their weight," said Dr. Johnson. "Depending on the size of the child, depending on what the medication is, then there could be all kinds of side effects or just effects of the medication on the child."
Long-term effects of drug exposure vary based on the substance and the amount of which is taken.
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