Police: Mother faces abuse charges after 17-month-old overdoses on fentanyl
The mother of a 17-month-old boy faces child endangerment and abuse charges after the boy overdosed on her illegal fentanyl pills.
Las Vegas police on Thursday arrested Regina Amber Coyle, 39, based on the events leading up to her son’s overdose in April at her residence in the 3900 block of University Center Drive, according to a Metropolitan Police Department arrest report.
On April 26, while Coyle was home alone with her son, the boy got into her supply of illegal fentanyl and ingested two or three pills containing the drug. The child showed signs of overdosing and later was unresponsive, police reported.
Coyle used Google to find places with Narcan, medicine that is designed to counteract an opioid overdose. Instead of calling 911 or going to Sunrise Hospital about 1.5 miles away, she went to a family services center asking for Narcan, police said.
A witness at the center told police she thought that Coyle did not seem focused on the child while there.
The child, who was gasping for breath, received CPR at the center, and the Clark County Fire Department rescue personnel administered Narcan, which stabilized him. The boy ultimately had to be checked into a hospital.
Police said they arrested Coyle on suspicion of child endangerment and abuse for causing the child “unjustifiable physical injury” due to her giving him “easy access” to illegal fentanyl.
Contact Jeff Burbank at jburbank@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0382. Follow him @JeffBurbank2 on Twitter.
