PALM BEACH COUNTY, Fla. — The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office says a 10-month-old girl was rushed to the hospital just two days after Christmas after overdosing on drugs.
According to an incident report, the baby girl suffered an overdose on the evening of Dec. 27, and Green Acres Fire Rescue revived her using Narcan, a medication used to treat overdoses.
PBSO said the child's mother, 24-year-old Melissa Katz, admitted to smoking two "Oxys" with her boyfriend, 24-year-old Kaeden Walton, the night before using tin foil, and three more "Oxys" on Dec. 27 in their apartment in the 2400 block of Lake Worth Road in suburban Lake Worth.
Katz said "whenever they smoke, they either go into the bathroom and turn the fan on, or go outside," according to her arrest report.
Katz added they leave the baby unattended in the bedroom of their one-bedroom apartment when they smoke, the arrest report stated.
According to investigators, Katz said she and Walton got into a fight around 5 p.m. on Dec. 27, and during the argument, the child "was left unattended, but not for more than five minutes" on the bed in the bedroom.
Katz admitted there was a large ziplock bag of medications on the bed with the baby.
Walton told detectives he's "prescribed a host of pain medications, as well as possessing a medical marijuana license" due to a back injury.
Following the overdose, the Department of Children and Families, along with PBSO's Special Victims Unit responded to the apartment.
"While there, [investigators] discovered several items considered to be drug paraphernalia, along with several prescription bottles, both opened and closed, strewn about the bed," according to the arrest report.
The report went onto say that because the baby was left unattended on the bed, "it is evident that she would have had access to any one of the multiple prescribed narcotics, along with burnt tin foil, with residue, used for smoking narcotics, that was also on the bed where she was lying."
"The child was clearly endangered, allowing her to ingest a substance resulting in her becoming unresponsive," the arrest report stated.
Katz and Walton were both arrested and booked into the Palm Beach County Jail on child abuse charges.
According to jail records, Katz bonded out of jail on Dec. 28, but Walton is still behind bars on $25,000 bond.
The condition of the baby is unknown at this time.
