Mom says her 8-month-old died of fentanyl overdose while in babysitter’s care

The mother of an 8-month-old baby who died of a suspected fentanyl overdose said her daughter likely ingested the drug while she was in her babysitter’s care. In an interview with FOX 2, baby J’ream’s mother said an autopsy report she received from the Wayne County Medical Examiner ruled her daughter’s cause of death as fentanyl overdose.

The minor is said to have accidentally overdosed on the drug while she was at her babysitter’s Dearborn Heights home on September 15. The babysitter was said to be a trusted person.

“Instead of planning our child’s first birthday we have to plan a funeral for our child,” she said.  “We have been told several different stories from the babysitter herself.”

A doctor’s report the deceased minor’s mother presented to the news outlet revealed that fentanyl was found in J’ream’s urine. And though she said she couldn’t tell how her daughter consumed the drug, she was adamant the babysitter was to blame.

“Pretty much there was nothing they [medics] could do. Her heart wasn’t pumping without the ventilator and there was no brain activity,” she said.  

She also said her deceased daughter and 6-year-old son had a close relationship. “I was going to explain to him what happened, and he looked at me and said, ‘Mommy you know I already know J’ream is dead,'” she said. “It hurt my heart so bad.”

Dearborn Heights Police Chief Jarod Hart told FOX 2 that the department and the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office are yet to bring any charges in connection with the minor’s death as they are waiting for the official autopsy report.

“It’s definitely something that could have been prevented had you kept an eye on her,” J’ream’s mother said. 

A GoFundMe has since been set up to help raise funds to cover J’ream’s burial & funeral.