Berea, Ohio 7-Year-Old Suffers From Heroin Overdose, Couple Charged In Case Pleads Not Guilty

A 7-year-old boy from Berea, Ohio suffered from a heroin overdose. The parents of the boy were charged but they have pleaded not guilty to the crime.

The parents were identified as Danielle Simko and Charles Dowdy, who are now in police custody. They are facing felony charges such as drug possession and endangering children and have a $150,000 bond, CDA News reported.

Simko and Dowdy recently appeared in a Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court. They are set to have their next hearing this Feb. 22.

Dowdy told authorities he found his son unresponsive on the bed at around 10:30 p.m. last week. He also said his son was not breathing and his lips turned blue so he immediately called 911.

Simko met the authorities outside their Berea home when officials arrived. Inside, police found Dowdy trying to resuscitate their son. The boy was rushed to the Southwest General Medical Center after a weak pulse and stopped compressions were detected.

A small bag of heroin and prescription pills were found inside the socks of the boy. Dowdy then admitted to officials he used drugs earlier and he and Simko were subsequently arrested, WFMJ.com reported.

The child recovered from the incident and is under the care of relatives. He is the youngest overdose victim in Berea, Ohio.

It was not stated how the child got hold of the heroin and details about other prescription drugs found on his socks were not revealed. It was also not clear if Simko also used drugs.

Cuyahoga Medical Examiner's Office recently released their report saying there was an increase in the deaths caused by heroin, fentanyl and other types of drugs. In 2011, only 64 deaths were recorded from the aforementioned cause but in 2016, it spiked to 517.

For 2017, 46 cases of overdoses linked to fentanyl and heroin were recorded so far. In a single weekend this February, 14 overdoses were reported.