LAWRENCE, Mass. — Video showing 2-year-old child screaming as her mom lays limp in the toy aisle at a Lawrence, Massachusetts store will likely be used as evidence in charges of a New Hampshire woman.
In the video, the 2-year-old girl is screaming and tugging at her mother’s limp body Sunday morning at a Family Dollar. The person taking the video can be heard describing the mother’s eyes rolling to the back of her head. Soon, first responders arrive. Police said it took two doses of Narcan to revive her.
Police said while they wish the person taking the video had helped the frantic child, the clip is evidence for a child endangerment charge. Combined with drug paraphernalia found in the woman’s bag, straws and baggies with drug residue, they believe she had overdosed on an oral version of heroin or an opiate-based narcotic like fentanyl.
Police in Lawrence said that while the video is shocking, it is all too common.
“They can see firsthand the power of the narcotic and fentanyl. She’s lucky to be alive and you see someone in the throes of addiction like that, and what they’re willing to sacrifice," said Fitzpatrick.