2 charged after one-year-old overdoses

PUTNAM COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - Two people were arrested Tuesday night after deputies were called to a reported overdose involving an infant in Poca.

Deputies with Putnam County Sheriff’s Department say they received a call about an overdose just after 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at an apartment on Maplewood Avenue in Poca, according to a criminal complaint.

Dispatchers said the call had originally been categorized as medical, but once Putnam County EMS arrived on scene they requested law enforcement due to a one-year-old infant they believed was overdosing.

The criminal complaint states medics told dispatchers they had administered Narcan and it worked on the infant, but they needed to still transport the infant to the hospital.

Deputies said they arrived on scene and spoke to the infant’s parents, Brittany Jeffers and Charles Turley.

Jeffers and Turley said they had been playing a basketball game at the Town of Poca Park when they noticed their daughter had a plastic baggie in her mouth.

According to the criminal complaint, Jeffers and Turley said once they were back at their apartment, their daughter began “acting weird” and that’s when they called 911.

Just after 8:20 p.m. Tuesday, deputies spoke with the medics on scene at the apartment and transported the infant to the hospital, the criminal complaint states.

Medics stated when they arrived on scene, they were met on the steps outside of the apartment by Jeffers, Turley, and their daughter.

The criminal complaint states medics noticed the infant’s back was “mottled/blotchy” and “her skin was a bluish-purpose color (cyanotic) everywhere.”

Medics also stated the infant had “pinpoint pupils, was not responding, and was making a snoring noise,” according to the criminal complaint.

At around 8:45 p.m. Tuesday, deputies stated they met with a Town of Poca employee to review video surveillance footage from the Town of Poca Park.

After reviewing footage of the park from about 5:45 p.m. Tuesday until deputies arrived at the apartment on Maplewood Avenue, deputies stated they confirmed Jeffers, Turley, and their daughter had not been at the park during that time, the criminal complaint states.

Deputies said they collected statements from two witnesses just after 8:50 p.m. Tuesday, who said that they had not seen Jeffers, Turley, and their daughter leave the apartment, the criminal complaint states.

Around 9:54 p.m. Tuesday, deputies were approached by an individual who lived in the same apartment complex as Jeffers and Turley, stating Jeffers called them and asked if the police were still outside their apartment, according to the criminal complaint.

The individual also stated that when they told Jeffers police were still outside the apartment, Jeffers asked if she could sneak by law enforcement and get into the apartment.

The criminal complaint states the individual refused to let Jeffers do so and notified law enforcement, and that Jeffers had contacted them twice earlier in the evening with the same request.

While deputies were still talking with the individual, Jeffers tried calling them again around 10:20 p.m. Tuesday, the criminal complaint states.

Deputies stated they overheard who they believed to be Jeffers telling the individual to try to listen to deputies’ conversations at the scene to see what they were going to do.

While deputies were waiting to be granted permission to conduct a search warrant of the apartment, they stated they were contacted by a Putnam County CPS worker letting them know the infant was in stable condition, according to the criminal complaint.

Deputies stated they were also told the infant had tested positive for fentanyl on a drug screen.

According to the criminal complaint, deputies were later able to conduct a search warrant and found several drug-related items in the apartment, including dozens of used syringes and pieces of plastic baggies with a whiteish residue on them.

Deputies stated the items were in reach of a small child within Jeffers and Turley’s bedroom, and pills were also found and identified as Xanax laying on the floor of the living room.

The criminal complaint states deputies waited for Jeffers and Turley to return to the apartment and they were arrested just after 2 a.m. on Wednesday.

Jeffers and Turley were both charged with child neglect resulting in injury.

They are currently being held at the Western Regional Jail on a $50,000 bond each.