JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville woman was arrested Wednesday in connection with the death of her 2-year-old toddler, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
JSO charged Melissa Harper, 43, with aggravated manslaughter of a child after her 2-year-old died of an overdose last year.
On March 21, 2024, JSO received a call for service to a local emergency room about a mother who had brought 2-year-old Kaden into their hospital unresponsive.
According to Harper’s arrest report, her son was fine when she put him to bed the night before she found him.
She told police he was sleeping longer than usual the next morning, so she checked on him and rubbed his back to wake him.
That’s when she noticed a rash. The report said she rolled her son over and noticed he was stiff and unresponsive. She immediately took him to the hospital.
The 2-year-old boy died shortly after he arrived at the emergency room, police said.
According to JSO, the Medical Examiner’s autopsy revealed the toddler’s cause of death to be combined drug intoxication of Fentanyl, Xylazine and Narcan.
When Fentanyl and Xylazine mix, they become a deadly street drug known as Tranq.
Dr. Sonya Reshid is a UF Health Emergency Room doctor and a Poison Control Center Toxicologist. She says Tranq users instantly feel the effects of euphoria.
“It’s almost like they feel like they’re on a cloud or not feeling anything,” Reshid said."
When someone overdoses on a prescription painkiller or illegal drugs, Narcan is administered to reverse the effects. But when someone overdoses on Tranq, it takes more doses of Narcan.
Reshid emphasized the difficulty of treating Tranq overdoses.
“It’s not working on the same receptors,” she said. “You need a lot more to try and wake these patients up. We do get calls on this – patients not responding to traditional doses of Narcan and we’re potentially going to have to give them more Narcan.”
While drug addicts who have a tolerance to Tranq can take the drug and get high without overdosing, people who don’t have a tolerance including children, are more likely to easily overdose and die from the drug.
While drug users with tolerance to Tranq may use the drug without overdosing, those without tolerance—including children—are at high risk of overdose and death.
Harper also tested positive for Fentanyl.
She was set to make her first appearance in court Friday morning.