Parents facing charges after 8-month-old child overdoses on fentanyl

PRINCETON, W.Va. — A West Virginia couple is accused of child neglect after an 8-month-old child overdosed on fentanyl, authorities said.

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Justin Ray Funk, 40, and Aspen Lanae Funk, 34, both of Princeton, were arrested on Sunday and charged with child neglect resulting in serious bodily injury and two counts of child neglect creating risk of bodily injury, according to Mercer County online booking records.

The child, according to the West Virginia State Police Senior Trooper H.E. Ingraham, is in stable condition and is expected to recover, WVVA-TV reported. The child was flown by helicopter to a hospital in Roanoke, Virginia, and the child was off a ventilator, according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph.

According to Ingraham, authorities received a call at about 5:30 p.m. EDT on Sunday about a child rushed to Princeton Community Hospital with a possible seizure, WVVA reported.

Medical personnel at the hospital determined that the child tested positive for fentanyl and was administered Naloxone, according to the Daily Telegraph. That reversed the effects of the child’s ingestion of fentanyl, Ingraham told the newspaper.

State troopers spoke with the Funks and arrested them Sunday night.

“Aspen Funk stated that Justin Funk physically abused her on multiple occasions. Ms. Funk also stated that Justin Funk lived in the residence and was a habitual user of Fentanyl,” Ingraham wrote in a criminal complaint. “During the interview, Justin Funk stated that he didn’t live at the residence, and was unsure how fentanyl could have entered the residence.”

Ingraham added that there were two other children in the home, ages 5 and 8, the Daily Telegraph reported. Child Protect Services will be conducting an investigation, according to the newspaper.

A preliminary hearing for the couple is set for Thursday in Mercer County Magistrate Court, WVVA reported. Bail has been set at $30,000 for each, according to online booking records.

If convicted, the suspects could face up to 10 years in prison, according to the television station.