Who is Kaitlyn Van Dorn? Florida parents arrested after 21-month-old's cocaine overdose
SARASOTA, FLORIDA: In what is a very tragic incident, a 21-month-old baby boy overdosed on cocaine. A Florida couple was charged with child neglect after the baby that authorities found in their care overdosed earlier this year. Blake Pavey, 34, and 33-year-old Kaitlyn Van Dorn were arrested on May 29, 2021.
As per the local reports, Pavey was charged with child neglect without great bodily harm. Van Dorn was charged with child neglect without great bodily harm and probation violation on a previous charge of possession of a controlled substance. The Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said that deputies responded to a 911 call from a Venice home on January 8, 2021, shortly before 5 pm. The boy was found unconscious and was not breathing.
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Police officers assisted the Sarasota County Fire Department at the scene. According to the sheriff's office, the child was revived after EMS gave him three doses of naloxone, a medication to reverse opioid overdoses,
Who is Kaitlyn Van Dorn?
The sheriff’s office said that Kaitlyn Van Dorn told officers that the boy had picked up an unknown object from the ground. She said that he put it in his mouth before stumbling, becoming limp, and losing consciousness.
"When we get there, the female defendant who's in the home says, 'He put something in his mouth while we were on a walk, I don’t know what it was,'" Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office community affairs director Kaitlyn Perez reportedly said. "The area is kind of known for narcotics use, so EMF decided to deploy Naloxone three times on the little boy. And, thank God that they did because he regained full consciousness, was awake and really, really alert."
After this, the child was rushed to the hospital for further tests. Van Dorn said the boy was picking up rocks using a teal bucket and may have picked up a needle cap that she had "swatted out of his mouth". He then went limp, and she allegedly carried him home while leaving the teal bucket behind on their route, according to the affidavit.
However, deputies were unable to find the drug paraphernalia. According to reports, they could not find any surveillance video from a nearby business showing Van Dorn walking the route at the time she stated, according to the affidavit. Deputies, however, found the teal bucket inside their home.
Later that night, when Department of Children and Families investigators showed up for a home visit, they found a pipe on the couch and spoon inside the child's bucket. The spoon tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine and the pipe was positive for cocaine, according to a report.
The child was removed from the home at that time, police said. He has reportedly not been in the care of either Van Dorn or Pavey since January.
Perez said that CCTV video from different houses and nearby businesses never showed Van Dorn leaving the house.
"Did we see where the child picked something up? None of it ever happened. She never went on a walk. We're 100% certain on that," she said. "So, we're confident that he ingested the cocaine inside the house at some point." However, Perez added that she did not know whether the incident was intentional.
While Pavey was released on a $15,000 bond, Van Dorn remained in custody without bond, related to a Violation of Probation charge. As per local reports, the two had previously been arrested for theft at the beginning of May.