A baby boy from the Los Angeles, California, area who died after being found unresponsive at a park in May had ingested fentanyl, the medical examiner said.
One-year-old Cameron Flores was rushed from Melville J. Courson Park in Palmdale to the Antelope Valley Medical Center on May 22 before dying there, ABC7 reported Saturday.
His cause of death was fentanyl toxicity, the Los Angeles County medical examiner confirmed.
The death was ruled an accident. Cameron’s parents, Schaffer Grindstaff and Amanda Flores, were arrested but released within days.
The local outlet stated the mother and father were released because there were “insufficient grounds” to criminally charge them.
The news comes after a string of child fentanyl deaths around the country, including a Portland, Oregon, toddler who passed away on September 12, Breitbart News reported.
The two-year-old girl was rushed to the hospital after it was reported she was suffering from cardiac arrest before dying, according to KPTV.
While the official cause of death has not yet been announced, the Portland Police Bureau (PPB) said their preliminary investigation points to fentanyl being a factor in the child’s death.
Neighbors of the girl, whose identity was not published by the local station, expressed concern about the drug crisis.
“It’s really depressing. Something happened to a child. It’s not good but there’s such a flow of drugs in the area. It’s a huge, huge problem,” local man Paul Hooson told the outlet.
“It’s disgusting. It sickens me because I have children and grandchildren. I don’t want to think about it and whoever’s involved, they need to be caught,” said Debra Fox, who also lives nearby.
Another two-year-old girl, Mehlaya, succumbed to a fatal overdose at her grandmother’s home in Syracuse, New York, in April 2023, Breitbart News reported.
In another California incident in May 2023, a mother was arrested after her one-year-old died of “acute fentanyl intoxication” from drugs that were allegedly left near where the infant slept, Breitbart News reported.
Christy Scarbrough, 40, was charged with child abuse with possible great bodily injury or death and abuse resulting in death, according to FOX40.
“Detectives obtained additional evidence indicating Scarbrough was using fentanyl before and after the infant’s death,” the Chico Police Department said.
As the fentanyl crisis sweeps across the United States, Breitbart News senior contributor Peter Schweizer has worked to reveal who is really behind the deliberate poisoning of American youth.
In his latest book, Blood Money: Why the Powerful Turn a Blind Eye While China Kills Americans, the seven-time New York Times bestselling author revealed how Chinese dictator Xi Jinping has allowed criminal groups to push fentanyl into the United States.
A Breitbart News breakdown of the book focused on five ties between Xi and organized crime groups.