3-year-old boy dies at Mesa hospital from fentanyl overdose
MESA, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) -- A toddler died at a Mesa hospital on Sunday, days after overdosing on fentanyl.
Apache Junction officers responded to the area of Tomahawk Road and Broadway Avenue last week, where police say a three-year-old boy had taken fentanyl, possibly a pill. His family rushed him to the hospital and he was treated with Narcan, but on Thursday he had to be airlifted to another hospital in Mesa. The child was put on life support but died Sunday evening, investigators said.
Police say the boy’s death is an ongoing criminal investigation, but no arrests have been made. On Tuesday, police said investigators are trying to determine where the boy came in contact with the street-grade fentanyl that was found in his system. Before becoming ill, the child had been traveling between Apache Junction, Mesa and nearby Maricopa County islands.
The department also released a statement about growing opioid deaths in Arizona. “This child’s death highlights the dangerous consequences of fentanyl and other illicit drugs in our ongoing fight against this epidemic,” the department tweeted.
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