Couple Arrested, Charged With Homicide After Toddler Dies With Fentanyl In His System
BALDWIN, Pa. (KDKA) -- A Baldwin couple is facing a lengthy list of charges, including criminal homicide, after their 1-year-old son died of a drug overdose.
The couple turned themselves into Allegheny County Police on Thursday morning at the Police's headquarters.
According to the criminal complaint, Tracy Humphreys and Thomas Snelsire's young son died of drug toxicity.
Lab tests showed the boy had Fentanyl in his system, which contributed to his death. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner's Office has ruled his death a homicide.
"It breaks my heart, definitely. It just makes me think 'what the hell has this world come to?'" said neighbor Vince Peluso.
During an examination of an older boy who also lived with the couple, doctors at UPMC Children's Hospital found cocaine metabolite in his system, investigators say.
Police believe the 1-year-old boy ingested the Fentanyl inside his parents' home on Oakleaf Drive. Baldwin Police officers and EMS workers were called there on the afternoon of Sept. 13.
#BREAKING: Allegheny County Police are banging on the door of a home on Oakleaf Road in Baldwin, hoping to find a couple now facing criminal homicide charges for the death of a 1 year old boy. @KDKA pic.twitter.com/jFl3Q2CxCN
— MEGHAN SCHILLER (@MeghanKDKA) September 23, 2020
The criminal complaint reports that they found the toddler lying on the front porch on top of a blanket. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators say he had been deceased "for a long period of time."
Police found the toddler's mother, Humphreys, inside the home, and his father, Snelsire, lying in the roadway nearby.
During a search of the home, police say they found heroin, crack cocaine, marijuana, pills, open containers of alcohol and other drug paraphernalia.
The criminal complaint reports that next to playpen in the basement, police found an open bottle Seagrams next to a container of baby snacks. On the floor, they found what "appears to be a 'heroin kit.'"
They also say they found six bricks of heroin and numerous empty stamp bags.
Humphreys and Snelsire are both facing charges of criminal homicide, endangering the welfare of children, and several counts each of drug possession and possession with intent to deliver.