News & Views

Hearing about someone unexpectedly passing before being able to live a full life is always heartbreaking. Hearing about a toddler passing, though, is especially rough. Daniel Jones, a 23-month-old from England, died on May 29 at his home. Initially unexplained, forensic tests later showed that he died from a heroin overdose. His parents, Emma Bradburn and Simon Jones, appeared in court today and were charged with manslaughter and causing or allowing the death of a child.

... it's hard to form words. While we don't know exactly how the heroin got into the toddler's system, one would assume that he either ate it or sniffed it accidentally. So many questions, so very few answers. The toddler died by heroin overdose: Now that's a phrase you don't hear every day.

The fact that there was heroin in the home of a 23-month-old is a major problem to begin with. I won't go straight to blaming the parents here. Sure, a babysitter could have left the drugs around or someone else could have brought them into the home. Regardless, in any situation, parents should know what kind of people are interacting with their child. Personally, I could never imagine inviting someone that would abuse a drug like that into my home, nevertheless near my kid.

Now, Daniel was found at the home with only his two parents at the time -- so herein lies the bigger issue: What were they doing when their toddler found and consumed the drugs? Why were they not watching him? Could Daniel have been saved if they were playing closer attention? Like I said, the questions are endless.

My heart breaks thinking about the aftermath right now. If the drugs belonged to the parents, I highly highly doubt they wanted their baby to come anywhere near them. Because of a careless choice, a toddler is dead. We can only hope that the responsible party takes the blame.

Whether or not the drugs belonged to Emma and Simon, do you think the parents are to blame?

Image via john morgan/Flickr