Police: 7-year-old boy high on cocaine at school, mother arrested
URBANA, Ohio (WDTN) — A mother is behind bars after her 7-year-old son showed up to school high on cocaine. She’s now facing multiple charges while her son recovers after being released from the hospital.
The 7-year-old boy is expected to be okay. Urbana Police say the situation could have much worse had it not been for the quick-thinking and quick-action taken by staff members at North Elementary School.
The boy is one of about a dozen children in the Miami Valley innocently falling victim to the drug epidemic.
“It almost brings a tear to your eye,” Urbana resident Benjamin Cash said. “It’s crazy.”
The little boy showed up to school Monday at North Elementary in Urbana. According to the Superintendent and Urbana Police, the boy seemed abnormally tired, sleepy and somewhat unresponsive during lunch.
School officials immediately called paramedics who took the boy by Careflight to Urbana Mercy Health Hospital.
“You got to be thankful for the good staff members and good teachers,” Cash said. “That see that stuff right away and try and get the kid help.”
At the hospital, doctors discovered cocaine in boy’s system, which they believe he inhaled at home prior to coming to school. Several hours later, the boy’s mother arrived at the hospital.
Police say she was later found to be under the influence of cocaine, meth and fentanyl.
“This is your child,” Urbana resident Lee Ann Steed said. “How could this happen.”
“It’s really sad,” Cash said. “It’s sad that the parent had to get involved with that kind of stuff and it’s even worse that they had it around their child.”
According to police, the mother admitted she believed the child was likely under the influence of drugs. She told police the child was unattended before he left for school that morning.
“A 7-year-old child should never even be around drugs,” Steed said. “They shouldn’t even know the word cocaine or any other substance. It’s just not fair.”
The mother was eventually arrested and taken to jail where she’s facing multiple drug charges.
“She’s exactly where she needs to be,” Steed said. “Because this is the only way she’s probably going to get help.”
Currently, the boy’s mother is in the Tri-County Jail. She’s being charged with possession of cocaine, meth and fentanyl. Police say more charges are likely to follow.
*Editor’s note: 2 NEWS is choosing to withhold the mother’s name from this report in order to protect the child’s identity.