A 2-month-old baby girl is on life support at a Texas hospital after she was found with injection marks and tested positive for heroin, police said.
Officers responded to a residence on the 2200 block of Webster Avenue in the city of San Angelo after receiving a report of an unconscious infant early Saturday morning, San Angelo police said in a press release.
When officers arrived at the residence, they found the two-month-old infant unresponsive. They administered life-saving measures while taking the girl to Shannon Medical Center for treatment, police said.
There hospital officials evaluated the baby and told police that they found injection sites on the girl’s head and extremities. They also told police that the baby’s urine tested positive for heroin.
The police said that due to the seriousness of the baby’s condition, the child was transported to Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas. According to the police, she has been receiving life-sustaining treatment there since Tuesday.
Police said detectives from the San Angelo Police Department of Crimes Against Children learned that the child’s mother, Destiney Harbour, 21, gave birth at home in August.
They also discovered that the baby had not received formal medical care since birth.
Harbour, her boyfriend and her mother were taken into custody. Each of them is charged with aggravated assault on a child, a first-degree felony, said San Angelo police.
Investigators said Harbour’s mother, Christin Bradley, 37, and Bradley’s boyfriend, 34-year-old Dustin Smock, helped care for the infant at the home.
While executing a search warrant at the house, investigators found drug paraphernalia and a small amount of suspected heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana and pills, police said.
The police added that the investigation was underway and that all three may face additional charges. Harbour’s bail was set at $100,000, while Bradley and Smock’s bail was set at $50,000.
Dr. Jamye Coffman is the medical director of the CARE team – the child abuse program – at Cook Children’s Hospital, told WFAA that the team has recently seen an increase in the severity of cases.
“We will unfortunately exceed the number of deaths from 2019,” Dr. Coffman told the ward. Her team reported five deaths from child abuse in 2019, and by October of this year there had already been six deaths.
The police department and Cook Children’s Hospital have been contacted for additional comments. The Texas Child Protection Agency was also asked for comments.
To report a suspected case of abuse or neglect, call 1-800-252-5400 or visit www.txabusehotline.org.
