JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Alexis Burnette, 27 and Saige Freese, 24, are in jail on child neglect charges after a girl in their care tested positive for fentanyl, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office.
A police report says the child, whose age was not released, was taken to the hospital after she stopped breathing. It's not known how she came in contact with the dangerous and potentially deadly opioid.
Burnette and Freese also tested positive for fentanyl after consenting to a urine test, the report says.
"Unfortunately, it happens way too often," said TJ Ward with Project Opioid Jax.
He's been working to bring awareness and advocacy to the opioid crisis. To learn more about Project Opioid Jax, click here.
The CDC says more than 107,000 people died of an overdose in 2021 in the US. Ward says a majority were fentanyl related.
"The message that we want to get out to people is that fentanyl is not a drug that you can experiment with," Ward said.
Burnette was sentenced to two years probation for child neglect in 2019 after police say they found her unresponsive in a Jacksonville home with Freese passed out inside a running car with a child inside.
It's not known if the same child was involved in both incidents.
Ward says fentanyl is potent and a small amount, even if not ingested, could have deadly consequences. "There is no experimenting with drugs. Fentanyl will kill. It's being laced in everybody's drug of choice."
The child received several doses of Narcan, often used to reverse an opioid overdose.
An update on her condition has not been released.