ST. LOUIS — A St. Louis father was charged Thursday in the fentanyl-related death of his own son as a result of abusing the drug in the child's vicinity, according to police documents.
Demetrius Lamar Smith, 40, was charged with one count of endangering the welfare of a child in the first degree, resulting in the death of a child, according to a criminal complaint.
According to the probable cause statement, officers went to St. Louis Children’s Hospital on March 2 regarding a call about an infant who was unresponsive. The infant’s mother told officers she left the child with his father while she was working. When she came to pick up the child from his father's residence in the 5000 block of Labadie Avenue, she found their son unresponsive.
She said she rushed him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A medical evaluation found that the child had fentanyl in his system, and this was the cause of his death. The identity of the child has not been released as of Friday afternoon.
On May 26, Smith admitted to using fentanyl while his son was nearby on the day the child died.
5 On Your Side will update this story as soon as information becomes available.
