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Partly cloudy. High 78F. Winds light and variable..
Partly cloudy skies in the evening, then becoming cloudy overnight. Low 59F. Winds light and variable.
Police have charged the parents of an infant girl who died under suspicious circumstances early Thursday morning after finding fentanyl and cocaine in the urine of her older sibling.
Canonsburg police were called to 1105 First St. in the borough shortly after 3 a.m. and found the 3-month-old child, identified in court documents as Navaeah, unresponsive and being held by her father, James May IV.
Navaeah was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead, police said. The cause and manner of her death are pending as investigators await toxicology results from the autopsy, District Attorney Jason Walsh said.
The girl’s 16-month-old brother, identified in court documents by his initials K.M., was also sickened, but survived. Investigators found cocaine and fentanyl in the boy’s system, according to documents, and he’s now in the care of authorities.
May, 31, and the children’s mother, Shannon McKnight, 23, were charged Friday afternoon with felony child endangerment and misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment, drug possession and possession of drug paraphernalia. While the parents spoke to authorities immediately after the incident, they have since disappeared and Walsh said police were still searching for them late Friday afternoon after filing the charges at District Judge James Saieva’s office in Canonsburg.
“We do not have a location on them at this point,” Walsh said. “We are looking.”
According to court documents, the parents were sleeping in their bed with the children the night they were sickened. Canonsburg police investigators said they found a wet stain in the bed that appeared to be a child’s vomit around various blankets and baby bottles. Police said they also found a glass crack cocaine pipe in an open nightstand drawer.
Investigators secured a search warrant and took the bedding and baby bottles, along with various drug paraphernalia and suspected stamp bags of cocaine and fentanyl found in the bedroom.
A Washington County Children & Youth Services case worker took the toddler to UPMC Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh for a medical checkup, where the boy’s urine tested positive for cocaine and fentanyl, according to court documents. Investigators did not elaborate on how the boy may have ingested the drugs.
It was not known how long CYS was involved in the family’s case, and officials there did not respond to a phone message or email seeking comment Friday afternoon.
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