Parents overdosing with their children nearby or in the backseats of their vehicle have been a new norm for drug users. The latest overdose incident was in Hope, Indiana over the weekend and the mother even had the syringe on her hand.
Police officers identified the mother as Erika Hurt. She was sitting at the driver seat of her vehicle when officials found her. Her 10-month-old son was in a car seat in the back of the car. Hurt was seen with her mouth open, her head tilted back and the syringe was on her left hand. Officials posted the photo, which has since become viral.
SF Gate reported that the vehicle where the mother and son were found was parked outside a Dollar General store in Hope, Indiana after someone called 911 to report that a woman behind the wheel looked like she was unconscious. Hurt was then taken to a hospital and was given two doses of Narcan in order for her to regain consciousness.
Narcan is given to patients who have suffered from opioid overdoses. Hurt is only 25 years old and reporteldy overdosed on heroin.
Detroit Free Press also reported that the marshal in Hope, Indiana, said that parents are found unconscious from drug overdose more often with their children in the car because they are doing it in area away from someone who will disapprove their acts. Hurt reportedly just got out of rehab on October 4. In 2014, she was sentenced to six months of probation due to drug possession.
Hurt is now booked on charges of child neglect and possession of drug paraphernalia. Hurt's son is in the custody of her mother.
The incident with Hurt came weeks after a grandmother and her friend, a man, overdosed in East Liverpool, Ohio. The woman's grandson, 4, was also in the back seat of the vehicle. Earlier this week, a Michigan woman was also found unconscious inside her vehicle at a gas station in Detroit. A two-year-old and a four-year-old were found in the backseat.
Also last month, a video showing a two-year-old toddler in pajamas was seen crying while trying to wake her mother up at a Family Dollar store in Massachusetts. The mother overdosed and collapsed at the store. A boy was also videoed crying after he found out that his mother died from drug overdose.
