STARKE, Fla. (AP) — North Florida parents are facing charges after authorities say their 2-year-old son died from eating a morphine pill.
The Florida Times-Union reports that 34-year-old Thomas Marvin Howard and 26-year-old Christian Lachelle Morgan were arrested Thursday and charged with aggravated child neglect.
The Bradford County Sheriff’s Office reports that Howard bought two 5-milligram morphine pills from a co-worker in April but realized he had dropped one when he got home. Howard and Morgan told investigators they searched for the pill and believed their son, Bradley Howard, had found it.
Instead of taking action, authorities say the couple smoked marijuana, drank alcohol and went to sleep. Morgan woke up the next morning, discovered the child dead and called 911.
The Florida Department of Children and Families has taken custody of the couple’s two other children.
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