ROWAN COUNTY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — An infant was rushed to the hospital after being exposed to fentanyl, according to the Rowan County Sheriff’s Office.
“[The baby] was completely blue, and I said, ‘God there’s no hope for that baby,’” said one neighbor who saw the infant as she was being loaded into an ambulance.
Deputies responded to calls regarding the incident around 2:58 p.m. Saturday, July 20, at a home along Sides Road. An 11-month-old infant was found unconscious and not breathing, and was transported to an area medical center after NARCAN was administered at the scene.
“You don’t hear a lot of stories about infants being injected with NARCAN because NARCAN is a very strong, powerful drug itself,” said Rowan County Sheriff Travis Allen. “But when it’s a life or death situation, you don’t have anything to lose.”
A state trooper happened to be in the area when the call went out.
“If a guardian angel was going down the road, it was Trooper Eagle,” Sheriff Allen continued. “His CPR efforts before EMS and fire got there most likely saved the child.”
Following an initial investigation, deputies said that the mother, Jamie Robertson, retrieved a baby bottle from the father’s vehicle. She, her daughter, and James Danielson then fell asleep until Robertson awoke to the baby gasping for air and struggling to breathe.
“The mama she was just tore up,” the neighbor who did not want to be identified continued to say. “She really loved that baby, but she was hung up on drugs.”
Both Robertson and Danielson later admitted to investigators that they had injected fentanyl while in bed with the baby before falling asleep. Unsanitary conditions, along with various items of drug paraphernalia, drug residue, and uncapped syringes were found at the home.
“They both admitted to injecting each other and then passing out with the child in the bed with them, so it’s just severe neglect on their part,” said Sheriff Allen.
Danielson and Robertson have both been charged with felony neglect child abuse-serious bodily injury, and misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.
Both have been placed in the Rowan County Detention Center under a $100,000 secured bond.
The infant has been released from the hospital into DSS custody and is expected to make a full recovery.