INTERLACHEN, Fla. – A mother in Interlachen is facing charge of child neglect after her 2-year-old daughter got sick from exposure to fentanyl, according to the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office.
Putnam County investigators say Jessica Martinez, 39, incriminated herself based on what she told deputies. They said her daughter was taken to Wolfson Children’s Hospital after paramedics used Narcan to revive the child, who is out of the hospital and in the care of her grandparents.
According to investigators, the young girl’s grandparents called 911 when she suddenly became unresponsive. The grandmother told paramedics she believed the child was exposed to narcotics, which prompted first responders to use Narcan on the girl.
The girl’s grandfather told investigators that prior to the child becoming unresponsive, her mother came by the house and gave the girl pieces of chocolate.
By the time Martinez left, investigators said, her daughter’s health started to decline.
The grandfather told police that when he called Martinez to tell her that her daughter was sick, she told him it was likely the result of her hands being dirty from fentanyl.
When deputies arrested Martinez on a warrant for failure to appear on an unrelated drug case, she reportedly stated that she had fentanyl on her hands when she fed her daughter candy.
Deputies say she also admitted that fentanyl was her drug of choice and that she used it a few hours before feeding her child.
According to investigators, right before Martinez was interviewed at the Sheriff’s Office, a detective went to shake her hands, but she refused and told him she had fentanyl on her hands.