Seven Virginia children, including 1-year-old, hospitalized for OVERDOSE after ‘seven-year-old gave them sleeping pills’
- EMS responded to the emergency at 100 South 16th Street after the mother of some children called 911 around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
- They found four children aged one, two and three who were unresponsive and three other children who were lethargic but not sleeping.
- The juveniles were immediately rushed to John Randolph Hospital, while the two younger children were transferred in critical condition to another facility.
- Authorities said the seven-year-old gave other children his unlabeled sleeping pill when the mother momentarily left the house.
- When she returned, she noticed that the children “behaved inappropriately” and called an ambulance and firefighters.
- Hopewell firefighters called the police. Child Protective Services and the prosecutor’s office are also involved in the investigation.
Seven children from Virginia at the age of one were hospitalized, three of them due to an overdose, after “a seven-year-old child gave them sleeping pills.”
Paramedics responded to the emergency at a house at 100 South and 16th Streets in Hopewell after the mother of some children called 911 around 5:30 p.m. Wednesday.
They found four children aged one, two and three who were unresponsive and three more children under the age of eight who were lethargic but not sleeping.
The juveniles were immediately rushed to John Randolph Hospital, while the two younger children were transferred in critical condition to another facility.
“They were left unattended for a short time and one of the kids who has the prescription drug got into it and shared it with the other kids here,” Lt. Cheyenne Casale said.
Authorities said the seven-year-old gave other children his unlabeled sleeping pill when the mother momentarily left the house to go to a nearby store.
When she returned, she noticed that the children were “behaving wrong” and called an ambulance and firefighters.
After transporting the children to the hospital, the Hopewell Fire Department contacted the police.
Child Protective Services and the prosecutor’s office are also involved in the investigation.
‘…[To] Finding out who we are going to prosecute and putting these kids in a safe environment is our number one goal,” Casale said.
Three young children overdosed and four more were hospitalized after taking sleeping pills when they were left unattended at 100 South and 16th Streets.
After taking the children to the hospital, Hopewell’s fire department contacted the police.
Paramedics found four children aged one, two and three who were unresponsive and three other children who were lethargic but not sleeping.
Melissa Baldwin, who gave her mother a lift in the area, told CBS she was heartbroken when a neighbor told her what had happened.
“As soon as we turned the corner, I saw the police everywhere. And I’m like, “Oh my God, what happened?” Baldwin told the publication.
“We didn’t see them carrying anyone in an ambulance, we skipped that part, but a close neighbor basically told us how even the cops helped carry the kids and get them into the ambulances and stuff like that.”
Authorities said some of the children were dropped off by a woman so that another woman they knew who lived in the house could look after them.
The juveniles were immediately rushed to John Randolph Hospital, while the two younger children were transferred in critical condition to another facility.
The child caretaker then briefly left the house to go to a store around the corner, and upon her return, some of the children eventually became unresponsive, ABC reported.
“I don’t know the details of their treatment, but some are being taken to other hospitals for further treatment,” Casale said.
After talking to one of the children and the doctors who treated them, authorities discovered that it contained sleeping pills.
They are expected to recover, but because they don’t know exactly how many prescription drugs they have ingested… it’s harder for them to process and metabolize [the drug].’ Hopewell Police reported this.