Photo: DON EMMERT/AFP/Getty Images
Riverside authorities are investigating the discovery of two people killed by fentanyl and three cases of children who tested positive for the opioid this week.
At approximately 10:00 p.m. this Sunday, Officials responded to reports of a man found dead at a Canyon Crest residence.. Investigators later determined that death was caused by an overdose of fentanyl.
The next day, at approximately 11:18 am, Riverside Fire Department paramedics responded to a medical emergency in the parking lot of a grocery store. Upon arrival at the scene, paramedics found a 3-year-old boy who had stopped breathing, so he was taken to a hospital..
Authorities discovered that the boy had been the victim of a fentanyl overdose.and police officers arrived after the minor’s mother attempted to interfere with her son’s care at the medical center.
Upon investigation, detectives learned that the boy, along with his 2-year-old sister, 5-year-old brother and their parents, were homeless and were living in their car at the time.
The other two minors also tested positive for fentanyl, and Authorities believe all three children were exposed to the opioid while inside the vehicle..
The parents were arrested accused of endangering their three children. The children were placed in the custody of the Riverside County Department of Child Protective Services.
The second death was registered on June 6, when Police officers found an unconscious homeless woman near the intersection of Iowa Avenue and Citrus Street in the Hunter Park neighborhood..
Emergency services tried to resuscitate the woman, but she died. Police suspect the victim died from a fentanyl overdose.
“In a 24-hour period in Riverside, we had three children exposed to fentanyl and two adults died from the drug,” Riverside Police Department Chief Larry Gonzalez said.
“Sonder legislation is needed to help remove this poison from our neighborhoods, and your local bosses, sheriffs and district attorneys will continue to push our legislators until we do,” Gonzalez added.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that it is 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine.
In California, fentanyl overdose-related deaths have skyrocketed in recent years.
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