9-month-old overdoses on fentanyl, Indy mother charged with neglect

INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman has been charged with child neglect after her 9-month-old baby reportedly overdosed on fentanyl.

Marialuiza Ruiz, 32, was arrested this week and booked into the Marion County Jail on a felony 5 child neglect charge. The charge stems from the overdose of Ruiz’s infant daughter.

Infant fentanyl overdose

Indianapolis Metro police and EMS crews were called Tuesday to a south side home for an unresponsive child.

Upon arrival, first responders noted the baby’s face had turned blue and that she was not breathing. Using Narcan, paramedics revived the 9-month-old girl.

After being taken to Riley Children’s Hospital, the girl again became unresponsive and medics noticed “pinpoint pupils” and “respiratory arrest.”

Nurses then used Narcan to revive the child a second time. The young girl survived, but tests showed she had fentanyl in her urine.

Search warrant

The next day, IMPD detectives were granted a search warrant for the home the child was found in. The baby’s mother – identified as Ruiz – lived in the home and was the one to initially call 911.

During a search of the home, IMPD reportedly found several incriminating items. Things seized by police included:

• Two bottle caps with residue on them
• Two spoons with a white powdery substance on them
• Multiple syringes
• An elastic tourniquet strap

Officers also seized Ruiz’s phone and collected photographs of the scene of where the infant was first found.

Further investigation, DCS info

Detectives also spoke with DCS regarding the overdose case. Workers assigned to Ruiz’s case told police that, at the time of the 9-month-old’s birth, an umbilical cord drug screen found the child tested positive for fentanyl.

DCS said that, three days after the child was born, Ruiz was also tested for drugs. These results also reportedly came back positive for fentanyl.

Ruiz later told police that her children – the 9-month-old who overdosed and her twin brother – were “wards of the state.” The mother said DCS had recently granted her unsupervised overnight visits and that it was during one of these visits that the infant’s medical incident occurred.

Interview with Ruiz

IMPD brought Ruiz in for questioning on Wednesday after gathering evidence and info from DCS. During this time, the mother reportedly waived her right to stay silent and agreed to speak with detectives.

Ruiz told police that grandparents had dropped her children off at her house around 6 p.m. on Feb. 10. She acknowledged that, when the kids arrived, they both appeared to be healthy and uninjured.

She said that the next morning she went to take a shower and left both infants awake and crawling around on the floor. After her shower, Ruiz said she found her daughter asleep on the ground in her bedroom.

Ruiz said she flipped over the baby and saw her face was blue, causing her to call 911. She told police that medics later found fentanyl in her daughter’s urine.

The mother told officers that she currently lives alone and that no guests had been over since the children were dropped off. She said that, after being clean and sober for the last six months, she recently relapsed and had been using a needle to shoot up “dope” in her garage.

Ruiz said it was possible some of the narcotics had fallen onto the floor of her bedroom and were later ingested by her daughter. She also said she was the only one to have brought drugs into the home and claimed it was an accident that they’d gotten into her daughter’s hands.

Arrest, aftermath

Given this admission from Ruiz, officers placed the 32-year-old under arrest and took her to jail on one count of felony neglect of a dependent. Jail records show she has not been released and is currently being held on a $15,000 bond with GPS monitoring conditions upon release.

An initial hearing in Ruiz’s trial was held Friday morning in Marion Superior Court 28. A jury trial is now scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. on April 21 in front of Judge Marie Kern.

DEA on fentanyl, child neglect

DEA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Mike Gannon said it is vital to keep drugs away from children if you choose to use them.

“If you’re breaking the law using drugs in the first place and you have young kids around, you have to make sure you’re not leaving the drugs out where a kid can get it,” Gannon said.

While the DEA didn’t investigate the case, Gannon said he reminds everyone that just a tiny amount of fentanyl, enough to fit on the tip of a pencil, can be deadly.

Fentanyl is also often added to other drugs, leading to a lot of accidental overdoses. While Ruiz said that she could not say exactly which drug “dope” was referring to, it was likely mixed with fentanyl.

“There’s never been a more dangerous time in our country to use drugs than now,” said Gannon. “So people have to realize the severity of using drugs in today’s day and age and how dangerous it is.”