Mom of 2-year-old who died of fentanyl poisoning says death was ‘100% preventable’
Family members of Nevaeh Meshelle Reed, the North Texas toddler whose February death has been linked to fentanyl poisoning, said she loved to sing.
The 2-year-old used a microphone she’d received for Christmas to belt out songs, including ones she made up herself, according to her mother, Stephanie Wallace. Now that microphone, along with other toys Nevaeh loved, are on display at Wallace’s house.
Wallace told the Star-Telegram in a phone interview that she feels it’s important to tell Nevaeh’s story because the toddler’s death “was 100% preventable.”
Nevaeh was visiting her father at an apartment in Mansfield when she lost consciousness the night of Feb. 18 and eventually quit breathing. Investigators say 26-year-old Michael Ray Reed waited for more than two hours to call 911. Instead, he searched YouTube for information on how to make a child throw up and tried to get naloxone, a medication that can be used to reverse opioid overdoses, delivered via DoorDash, according to an arrest warrant affidavit.
“A simple 911 call and (Nevaeh) would be here,” Wallace said.
When paramedics arrived at the scene, Reed didn’t tell them that he suspected his daughter had ingested fentanyl, according to Reed’s arrest warrant. When police later searched the apartment with a warrant, they found a blue M30 pill on the living room floor in front of the TV. It tested positive for fentanyl and was only 4 or 5 feet from the place Reed’s sister, Jamie Nicole Popovic, said she’d found Nevaeh, an affidavit states.
Nevaeh died 10 days later in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Cook Children’s Medical Center.
Nevaeh was on life support when her father was arrested. He currently faces a first-degree felony charge of knowingly causing serious bodily injury to a child by failing to call for medical help and “failing to safeguard pills out of reach of the victim,” according to the warrant.
A spokesperson for the law office of Shane Lewis, Reed’s court-appointed lawyer, declined to comment on the case.
Popovic faces a charge of criminal negligence for not calling 911 “in a timely manner,” her arrest warrant states.
Wallace said she hopes to start a nonprofit organization to draw attention to the problem of children overdosing on fentanyl due to parental negligence. She wants to prevent others from going through this type of tragedy.
“I just want parents to be more aware and care a little more,” she said.
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