Parents charged after toddler dies from fentanyl poisoning

Ava Floyd had ‘an extraordinary level’ of fentanyl in her body when she died of an overdose on December 25 inside her parents’ Detroit-area home 

A Detroit-area couple have been charged in the Christmas Day overdose death of their 18-month-old daughter, who had ‘an extraordinary level’ of opioids in her system. 

Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith told the Detroit Free Press that an autopsy showed Ava Floyd had ingested up to 15 times the dose of fentanyl involved in the last 30 overdose deaths in the county.   

Smith’s office says Ava’s parents, 28-year-old Antonio Floyd and 27-year-old Shantanice Barksdale, were arraigned Monday and jailed on second-degree murder charges. 

According to a press release from Smith’s office, the couple were producing fentanyl for sale in their Clinton Township home, which they shared with their three children, and authorities believe their baby daughter drank something containing the drug. 

Ava was taken to a grandmother’s home in Warren where she stopped breathing.

Antonio Floyd, 28 (left), and 27-year-old Shantanice Barksdale (right), have been charged with second-degree murder in the December 25 death of their baby daughter from an opioid overdose

Prosecutors say the couple were producing fentanyl for sale in their Clinton Township home (pictured) which they shared with their three children

Ava was taken to St. John Macomb Hospital where she was pronounced dead at 3.31pm. Medical staff observed no signs of trauma or abuse in the deceased toddler.  

On January 10, police executed search warrants on the grandmother’s home and the parents’ home, and allegedly found evidence of manufacturing and distributing narcotics inside Floyd and Barksdale’s residence.

Investigators believe the young parents were involved in drug trafficking and were using their home to process and package fentanyl for sale.  

‘The nation is experiencing an opioid epidemic,’ said Smith. ‘However, to see an infant experience such a tragic death on Christmas morning as a result of ingesting a large quantity of her parents’ Fentanyl is truly gut-wrenching.’ 

Authorities believe baby Ava (pictured with her older siblings) drank something containing the drug

Autopsy showed Ava (left) had ingested up to 15 times the amount of fentanyl authorities had seen in Macomb County’s last 30 overdose deaths. Pictured right: toddler’s parents 

In addition to murder, Floyd and Barksdale have been charged with manslaughter, drug trafficking and child abuse

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine. 

In November, a report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that fentanyl was behind the increase of drug overdose deaths between 2016 and 2017.  

In addition to murder, Floyd and Barksdale have been charged with manslaughter; deliver/manufacturing of controlled substance; second-degree child abuse and felony firearm. 

Floyd, a convicted felon is also being charged with felon in possession of a weapon and felony firearm, WXYZ reported. 

A judge ordered the couple held in jail without bond pending a probable cause hearing on January 22.