(WWJ) The parents of Ava Floyd, an 18 month old baby who was found dead on Christmas morning have been charged with her death.
Prosecutor Eric Smith’s office authorized charges of second degree murder today.
Prosecutors say Antonio Floyd, 28, and his children’s 27 year old mother, Shantanice Barksdale, were at their home in Clinton Township, along with three children.
That afternoon they took their children to a grandmother’s home in Warren. A short time later Ava Floyd was discovered, not breathing.
The toddler was taken to St. John Macomb Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 3:31 p.m. No signs of trauma or abuse were observed by the hospital staff.
Later, the Medical Examiner’s office notified Warren Police that the baby had an extraordinary level of the narcotic Fentanyl in her system at the time of death.
On Jan. 10, 2019, law enforcement executed search warrants on the grandmother’s home in Warren, as well as the parents’ home in Clinton Twp. The police uncovered evidence of manufacturing and distributing narcotics inside Floyd and Barksdale’s residence.
Additional investigation led the authorities to believe that Floyd and Barksdale were involved in drug trafficking and are using the home to process and package Fentanyl for distribution.
“The nation is experiencing an opioid epidemic,” Smith said. “However, to see an infant experience such a tragic death on Christmas morning as a result of ingesting a large quantity of her parents’ Fentanyl is truly gut-wrenching. This type of criminal behavior will be met with the full weight of this prosecutors office.”
Floyd and Barksdale have been charged with second degree murder, deliver/manufacturing of controlled substance, manslaughter, second-degree child abuse and felony firearm. Floyd, a convicted felon, is also being charged with additional counts of felon in possession of a weapon and felony firearm. Arraignment is expected today.
Freep.com reported in 2018 that fentanyl killed one person a day in Macomb County. The number of deaths involving the powerful painkiller fentanyl jumped 38% between 2016 and 2017, from 144 to 199, a CDC report said.