Couple arrested after 1-year-old ingests heroin

A Reno, Nev., couple was jailed after their 1-year-old daughter ingested heroin left within her reach. She was in serious condition after being taken to a hospital Saturday night.

According to the Associated Press, the baby's parents, Lorena Vizina, 23, and Justin Robinson, 25, were booked Sunday into Washoe County Jail on suspicion of child abuse. Each parent was being held on $20,000 bail. Court documents showed that the couple told detectives they were both addicted to methamphetamine and heroin.

Vizina and Robinson had earlier been evicted from their apartment on Yori Avenue and had been packing Saturday, reported the Reno Gazette-Journal. That afternoon, Vizina had picked up the child from her parents' home, where she had been staying for the previous 10 days. Before Vizina left for her Saturday night shift at a local escort service, she said that she and Robinson smoked heroin in front of their daughter, according to an affidavit. She then left the little girl in her father's care. The child's mother told investigators she can't "function" without the drug.

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Robinson told police he only left the child alone on the floor for a few minutes while he washed his face and hair and got dressed, according to Reno's News4. When he returned, she had a white powdery substance around her mouth. Robinson admitted to police that he watched his daughter shaking and rolling her eyes for 45 minutes before taking her to her grandparents' home to ask if she looked OK. At that point, the baby was "unresponsive, (with) blue tinted skin and lips."

Sgt. Gerald Rhodes, of Reno Police's Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Department, said Robinson took his daughter to the hospital where she was initially on life support, reported News4. "Now she is breathing on her own. We're hoping she recovers completely."

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/americas/united-states/120718/couple-arrested-after-1-year-old-ingests-heroin