According to Allegheny County Police, the 1-year-old daughter of Jeffrey Carter, 36, from Clairton, accidentally overdosed and nearly died from the animal tranquilizer xylazine, also known as tranq, back in April.
Carter was charged just days later and officially arrested this week. He was arraigned Tuesday and denied bail. He’s being held at the Allegheny County Jail.
According to the police report, Carter, was in Wall Borough visiting his young daughter and her mother on April 16 when the child “went limp and became unresponsive.”
She was hospitalized at Children’s Hospital in critical condition, with her condition described as “near fatal.”
Police paperwork states the baby tested positive for both fentanyl and Xylazine and had overdose symptoms.
She was given Narcan and admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit.
“The patients present much the same, unconscious, not breathing or breathing very shallowly,” said Shaler Hampton EMS Chief Eric Schmidt.
Schmidt spoke about the dangers of Xylazine at an event just over a month ago in Shaler.
Speaking with Channel 11 Wednesday, he explained why treating someone who has overdosed on both Xylazine and fentanyl is so difficult.
“The end result is we see them not responding to Narcan, where they would if it was heroin, or if it was fentanyl, or one of those opioids, which Tranq or Xylazine is not,” Schmidt said.
The criminal complaint states that police found drug paraphernalia in the Wall Borough home, but did not specify how the 1-year-old girl came into contact with the drugs.
Schmidt says it takes only a tiny amount of Xylazine to overdose.
“It’s a very small amount, the same though as fentanyl, or carfentanyl or heroin. You don’t want to be in direct contact with any of it,” Schmidt said.
In 2010, Carter pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute. He was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison.
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