11-month-old baby revived with Narcan after fentanyl poisoning; police investigate

 An active investigation is underway in Syracuse as an 11-month-old baby recovers from fentanyl poisoning.

Syracuse Police say the investigation is progressing rapidly. The baby was revived by first responders using Narcan and rushed to the hospital for treatment.

Two-year-old Mahlaya Blue died in April 2023 after spending the night at her grandmother's home on West Lafayette Avenue in Syracuse. Police say she overdosed on fentanyl. The grandmother, 45-year-old Natasha Gregory and her 51-year-old boyfriend Curtis Rouse are charged with illegal gun possession but are not charged in the little girl's death.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Onondaga County District Attorney Bill Fitzpatrick spoke about the most recent fentanyl poisoning of an 11-month-old after he was asked about the fatal fentanyl overdose of 11-year-old Ashton DeGonzague.

The boy's family say doctors told them he ingested fentanyl, cocaine and cannabis but police and prosecutors have yet to confirm that.

In her 12 years of public service, Syracuse Common Council President Helen Hudson says she has never seen the fentanyl crisis this bad. "Within the last few months, we've had three of our children, two die and one thank God was able to be revived. That's a problem."

According to the State Office of Children and Family Services report on Mahlaya's death, the boyfriend of the toddler's grandmother found her "cold and motionless with blood coming from her mouth and nose."

There has to be some accountability because if we don't have accountability, we're going to continue to bury children. It's our responsibilities as adults to make sure our children are safe.

Syracuse Common Councilor-at-Large Chol Majok says as a community, we have to do better to keep children safe. "How do we become more proactive not to lose more young lives like that? We have to examine that," Majok said.

The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is making a push to educate people about the dangers. Fentanyl is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. It can come in the form of a prescription pill or something made illegally.

The Upstate New York Poison Center says poison centers across the U.S. have seen a spike in calls related to opioids, with more opioid overdoses and deaths nationwide, especially among children younger than 5.

This chart compares the increase in synthetic opioid (fentanyl) deaths between children less than one up to 14, with the overall population of the United States. The y-axis represents the x-fold increase in deaths from 2015 to 2021. (Courtesy of Families Against Fentanyl)

Last year, the Upstate New York Poison Center alone handled 708 calls about opioids, with 51 calls involving children younger than 6 and 59 calls related to those ages 6 through 19.

A recent study published in The Journal of Pediatrics last year found there were 731 children aged 5 and younger who died between 2005 and 2018, with the highest number of deadly poisonings from opioids. The Upstate Poison Center says even a small dose of an opioid in a child can cause severe poisoning and even death.

Officials urge families with opioid prescriptions to keep them in the bottle and out of reach and site of children. They also encourage people to use a lockbox for all medications and to keep naloxone in the home in case of an emergency. The Upstate New York Poison Center is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year by calling 1-800-222-1222.

https://cnycentral.com/news/local/crisis-in-syracuse-11-month-old-recovers-from-fentanyl-poisoning-amid-child-overdoses