KENNER, Louisiana – A new study shows that children die from fentanyl poisoning faster than any other age group.
Many of these deaths are children of drug users who accidentally expose their children.
That’s what happened on New Year’s Eve in Kenner, Louisiana, a suburb of New Orleans. One-year-old Leo Callero was found dead with fentanyl in his system. His family tells us that his mother, Alexis Callero, was a heroin user and the state was actively investigating her custody, but it was too late.
“It’s really just a numb feeling,” said Leo’s paternal aunt, Lexis Staub. “It still feels unreal. We’re just trying to get justice for Leo. This should never happen.”
Leo Callero, 1, was found dead on New Year’s Eve with fentanyl in his system.
(Courtesy of Lexis Staub)
ARIZONA BOY DIES AFTER SWALLOWING FENTANYL PILL
Capt. Michael Cunningham of the Kenner Police Department says that in the last year, almost 100% of the drugs his department has taken off the street have tested positive for fentanyl.
“It comes from across the border, where they can make hundreds of thousands of pills with a small amount of fentanyl, and we have street vendors who make their own pills,” Cunningham said.
Alexis Callero is facing murder charges in Leo’s death and the Louisiana Department of Children and Family Services is investigating her missteps.
The boy’s mother, Alexis Callero, faces second-degree murder charges in his death.
(Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office)
12,000 FENTANYL TABLETS PACKED IN CANDY FOUND AT LAX TSA CHECKPOINT
Across the country, welfare agencies are still grappling with staff shortages since the pandemic, and some children are slipping under the radar.
Meanwhile, Leo’s death is now part of a worrying rise in fentanyl poisonings of children.
According to the nonprofit Families Against Fentanyl (FAF), between 2019 and 2021, fentanyl deaths among children ages 1 to 4 more than tripled, and deaths among children ages 5 to 14 nearly quadrupled.
“It has become so prevalent that it is killing babies and children just by incidental contact,” said FAF founder Jim Rauh.
fentanyl pills
(United States Attorney’s Office)
SOUTH CAROLINA AUTHORITIES SEIZE ENOUGH FENTANYL TO KILL 15 MILLION
Rauh founded Families Against Fentanyl after the drug killed his son in 2015. Since then, he has been on the front lines, working with political leaders and other advocates on solutions to the fentanyl crisis.
“I want the White House to declare fentanyl by executive order a weapon of mass destruction,” Rauh said. “That will put a whole-of-government focus on this.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Rauh says the drug problems facing the United States right now are “just the beginning” if more action is not taken.
“We fear that this could be used for mass casualty events,” Rauh said. “It infiltrates schools. It infiltrates prisons. That means there’s no safe environment. With the slightest solvent, it becomes immediately transferable. God knows what could happen if it infiltrates a food, water or air supply.” .
