OKLAHOMA CITY — An Oklahoma City couple is facing charges of murder after their 6-year-old son died from fentanyl.
Attorney General John O’Connor filed charges against Harold Belton, 47, and Grashaunda Brooks, 44.
Oklahoma City police investigators report on October 4, 2021, Belton took his son to the emergency room around 5:45 a.m. Medical reports show the child did not have a pulse and staff believed he’d been dead an hour or more based on his body temperature.
Police said Belton told detectives that the night before his son said he did not feel well. Belton told detectives he got in bed with the boy, dozed off, and woke up around 2-3:00 a.m. because he felt something wet on his shoulder. He said that’s when he noticed the boy was unresponsive, and had mucus coming out of his nose and mouth. Belton said he tried to pick him up, but the boy’s head drooped over.
A medical examiner determined the probable cause of death was the toxic effects of fentanyl after finding 27 ng/mL of fentanyl in the 6-year-old’s blood.
OKCPD officers and detectives served a search warrant on the home and reported finding three blue tablets in a plastic pill bottle labeled for the victim’s mother, hidden inside of a barbecue grill. A lab tested the tablets and found they contained fentanyl.
“I am very saddened by the tragic death of this 6-year-old boy,” said Attorney General O’Connor. “Fentanyl can be a deadly poison. Illegal fentanyl is affecting not only addicts, but the young and innocent as well. Simply put, these counterfeit pills kill people and destroy families. I appreciate the Oklahoma City Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration for working with my office to ensure that those who illegally possess and sell fentanyl within our community are held accountable. We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to protect all Oklahomans and prosecute those who violate the law.”
According to investigators, the tablets were counterfeited to mimic pharmaceutical oxycodone 30mg tablets.
Drug Enforcement Administration agents started assisting OCPD with the investigation in April 2022. Agents determined that Brooks currently, and at least for the year prior to her son’s death, had been prescribed oxycodone tablets but did not have a prescription for fentanyl.
Earlier this month 2 News Oklahoma took an in-depth look at the fentanyl problem in Oklahoma.
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