Three Arrested After 2-Year-Old Dies of Drug Overdose
Three adults in Cambridge Ontario, have been arrested after an investigation into the drug overdose of a toddler to whom they are related, who died as a result on December 1, according to a media release from Waterloo Regional Police Service (WRPS) on Thursday.
On December 1, 2020 at around noon, local law enforcement responded to a 911 call about a young male, age 2, in distress at a Winter Court residence in Cambridge.
"This is a very tragic incident and our hearts go out to the family and the entire community," Cherri Greeno, the WRPS department's manager of public information told Newsweek.
On Thursday, a male, 59, along with two females, ages 54 and 29, were arrested by law enforcement and are being charged with criminal negligence, according to WRPS. All three of the individuals were from Cambridge, and their names have not yet been released.
The toddler was found by Emergency Services and did not have any vital signs; he was pronounced dead afterward, the police department's statement said. The investigation into the death was a result of partnership between members of WRPS' Major Crime Unit and the coroner's office.
The substance that resulted in the toddler's overdose has not yet been confirmed.
"As this investigation remains ongoing and is now in front of the judicial system, we are limited in the information we are able to release," said Greeno.
All three individuals related to the toddler were expected to appear in court Friday at Kitchener's Ontario Court of Justice, according to WRPS.
Last August, another toddler had died in the Waterloo region as WRPS investigated the incident as a murder-suicide, according to their media release from August 4.
Police arrived at a home on Forsyth Drive in Waterloo after Emergency Services were called after 9 a.m. on July 31 where they found a boy, 2, and his mother, 38, in medical distress.
"Life-saving measures were performed by the responding officers and paramedics," the statement said and the two individuals were transported to the hospital.
The toddler "succumbed to his injuries," and died on August 2. The mother "succumbed to her injuries," and died the following day on August 3.
"The child's death is being investigated as a homicide, and the female is believed to have passed away as a result of self-inflicted injuries," the release stated.
At the time of the report, police were not looking for other suspects and the child's death was being investigated as a homicide by the WRPS Major Crime Unit.
Regarding the 2-year-old's drug overdose death, WRPS is asking that anyone with relevant information to the ongoing investigation to call them or contact Crime Stoppers.
