Las Vegas 3-year-old overdoses on fentanyl after mother travels to Mexico to buy pills: police

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A 3-year-old overdosed on fentanyl after her mother allegedly traveled several times to Mexico to purchase the illicit drug, the 8 News Now Investigators have learned.

On Sept. 28, Las Vegas Metro police responded to an apartment for a call regarding a child who was not breathing. Paramedics administered the girl the opioid overdose antidote Narcan, which revived her, they said. At the hospital, toxicology results showed fentanyl in the child’s system.

The girl’s mother, Ashley Richardson, told police that over the past several months, she has traveled to Mexico to buy fentanyl pills, documents said.

“Ashley stated the local pills were too expensive, so she and [another person] decide[d] it was better to return to Mexico and buy the fentanyl from there,” police said.

Richardson reportedly told police she usually keeps the pills in a bag, which is out of reach of her daughter, but this time, the bag was left on the floor, documents said.

At the time of Richardson’s arrest, police were not certain how the child ingested the drug.

Richardson faces one charge of child abuse or neglect resulting in substantial bodily harm, records said. Las Vegas Justice Court Judge Amy Ferreira released Richardson on her own recognizance, ordering Richardson to comply with all directives from Child Protective Services.

A future court date was unclear as of Wednesday.

Eight children under the age of 18 died from drug overdoses involving fentanyl in Clark County in 2022, the latest year with data available, according to the Southern Nevada Health District. In all, 236 people died from overdoses involving fentanyl in the county that year.

In 2023, 302 people died from overdoses involving fentanyl in Clark County — a 28% increase from 2022.

A file photo of blue fentanyl pills is shown in this story as an example of what police are finding across Clark County. Las Vegas Metro police no longer release booking photos, citing a circuit court ruling.

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