Milwaukee 4-year-old dies from methadone intoxication
MILWAUKEE – A four-year-old child died of acute methadone intoxication on April 15, reports CBS affiliate WDJT.
Tyranne Beckless is reportedly the seventh child under the age of 5 to die of an opiod overdose in Milwaukee County in the past 19 months.
WDJT reports that Milwaukee police say two suspects were arrested in the case on Wednesday and the investigation is ongoing. Authorities have not said how the boy ingested the drug.
Toddlers are some of the youngest victims of the nation's opioid epidemic. The number of children's deaths is relatively small compared to the overall toll from opioids, but toddler fatalities have climbed steadily over the last 10 years across the country.
In 2000, 14 children in the U.S. under age 5 died after ingesting opioids. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says by 2015, that number climbed to 51.