ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A toddler not even 2 years old died in January after finding and ingesting fentanyl. Now, nearly five months later, a suspect has been charged in the St. Louis County case.
Jerry Moorehead Jr., 34, is facing counts of endangering the welfare of a child causing death, and endangering the welfare of a child creating substantial risk – both felony charges.
On Jan. 20, Moorehead is accused of exposing a 22-month-old child to fentanyl. The toddler ingested the drug, causing his death, according to a probable cause statement signed by a Maryland Heights Police Department detective.
A 6-year-old child also was exposed to the drug in the same incident. The child survived but tested positive for the narcotic.
The investigation
Sgt. Richard White is the supervisor for the investigative unit and detective bureau at the Maryland Heights Police Department.
He said that back in January, police were notified that a deceased child was at Cardinal Glennon's Children's Hospital with suspicious circumstances.
That's when their investigation began.
"Our investigation led us to the children’s father. There was evidence in the apartment of opioid addiction," he said. "Fentanyl is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine. So you can imagine if a child somehow induces or touches fentanyl, it can get through their skin and die very quickly."
White said they learned the boy named Tyler possibly had it in his mouth.
"We had evidence the fentanyl was on the floor of the apartment. The little boy was on the floor with it and ingested it," he said.
White said the father was babysitting the two children and was playing video games most of that afternoon.
"It was brought to his attention by his 6-year-old daughter. She said that her little brother was unresponsive," White said.
White told 5 On Your Side that's when Moorhead called his mother, who lives in St. Louis.
"He didn’t tell her the full issue and was in a panicked state. She drove to the apartment in Maryland Heights. She sees the child is unresponsive and drove back to the city to the dad's home, the grandfather. When he saw the child, he said they needed to go to the hospital," White said.
However, it was too late.
The child was announced dead at the hospital.
White said Moorhead did have Narcan in the apartment with him and attempted to use it, but it didn't work.
"You have such a small window to get the Narcan in," White said.
White said the timing here is everything.
"When the child was brought to the hospital, from the time he called his mother to come pick him up to the time the child got to the hospital, the hospital staff said the child was cold to the touch. So cold they couldn’t get a temperature on the child so that tells us the child was deceased for some time," White said.
He said that calling 911 immediately could've made a difference.
Unfortunately, White also said they've seen an increase of children coming in contact with fentanyl and overdosing. Some even die.
A tragic pattern the Child Advocacy Center in Wentzville is also seeing.
"Our role is to interview all of the children in that household," Director of Forensic Services Amy Robins said, "to be able to see what a day in the house looks like. We have had young children ask us for belts to demonstrate how to shoot up heroin specifically and ask us for dollar bills to show us how to roll it and snort."
Robins said in her experience the roles parents play can be life-changing.
"Kids are very aware of what their circumstances are and what's going on around them and I don't think parents understand how much their drug abuse can impact that child," Robins said.
"I take a compassionate approach to many drug-related offenses because drug users often need and respond to treatment more than punishment - but I have no compassion for endangering and even killing children by exposing them to narcotics," said St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell. "No one responsible for the care of small children should be using drugs or leaving drugs lying around where a child might ingest them."
Just last year, the DEA St. Louis Division broke a fentanyl seizure record in 2021 with nearly 188 kilograms seized through Missouri, Kansas and southern Illinois.
Related stories:
- St. Louis County employee charged in federal COVID relief kickback scheme, fired from position
- 'Make their loss of life matter' | Matthew McConaughey makes passionate plea for gun law changes
- 'Put the guns down': Loved ones mourn the loss of 21-year-old man killed in Ferguson
- McDonald's employee shot to death by co-worker outside St. Louis restaurant Tuesday night