REALITY TV
TV
MOVIES
MUSIC
CELEBRITY
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use Accuracy & Fairness Corrections & Clarifications Ethics Code Your Ad Choices
© MEAWW All rights reserved
MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

Two-year-old Florida toddler died of 'acute heroin toxicity' but mom claims she only gave him flu medication

Parents Trerideon Blount, 23, and Rosemary Freeney, 22, are charged with aggregated manslaughter on suspicion of causing Little Devin Blount death
PUBLISHED JUN 26, 2020
Trerideon Blount, Rosemary Freeney (Escambia County Jail)
Trerideon Blount, Rosemary Freeney (Escambia County Jail)

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA: A couple from Pensacola is facing charges in the death of their two-year-old son after an autopsy determined that the toddler's cause of death as “acute heroin toxicity.”

Little Devin Blount died on April 17 this year, and now Trerideon Blount, 23, and Rosemary Freeney, 22, are both charged with aggregated manslaughter on suspicion of causing his death.

Under Florida state law, aggregated manslaughter is the crime of causing the death of a person by culpable negligence.

Freeney, who was arrested on Thursday and booked into the Escambia County Jail, is currently being held on a $130,000 bond.

According to CSO spokeswoman Melony Peterson, Blount remained at-large on Thursday evening with an active arrest warrant charging him with aggregated manslaughter. He was previously arrested on May 27 on drug possession charges and released on a $2,500 bond.

On the fateful morning of April 17, Freeney dialed 911 at around 10 am complaining she was unable to wake her son up.

The toddler was pronounced dead by EMTs at 11.10 am and Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies were summoned to investigate the death at the family residence located within the 600 blocks of West Fairfield Drive, according to the Pensacola News Journal.

Speaking to detectives, Freeney said she last saw her son awake at around 10 pm the previous night when she put him to bed. But on the following morning, little Devin Blount was unresponsive, according to her version of events. Freeney added that before calling 911, she shook the child in a bid to wake him up. She also rushed him to another room and rubbed his chest, but in vain.

Freeney also told detectives that Trerideon Blount, the two-year-old's father, had recently taken him to Sacred Heart Hospital and that he was diagnosed with the flu.

She further revealed that she gave her son Tylenol Cold and Flu and Sambucol Black Elderberry around 9 pm the night before his tragic demise.

During a search of the residence, an ECSO deputy found a plastic "baggie" bag containing a hard, rock-like substance next to a weighing scale near the home's entertainment center. The substance in the bag was later found to be 42.2 grams of heroin. And a medical examiner revealed the results of the autopsy to the ECSO saying the cause of the child's death was “acute heroin toxicity.” However, it is still unclear whether the child accidentally ingested the substance or it was administered by the mother. Freeney told authorities that a  man named Chuck had been staying with her the night Devin died and speculated whether the drugs belonged to him.

“Because Devin Blount’s death was a result of acute heroin toxicity to which he was exposed to in his home with his parents, Trerideon Blount and Rosemary Freeney, with an obvious lack of supervision, warrant affidavits are being prepared, on both parents for judicial review,” the arrest report said.

County records obtained by the Pensacola News Journal indicated that Freeney remained in custody as of 7 pm Thursday.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

RELATED TOPICS FLORIDA NEWS
POPULAR ON MEAWW
MORE ON MEAWW