Pennsylvania man's 1-year-old child accidentally ingests fentanyl capsules: Police

YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WPMT) -- A Dallastown man is facing charges after his 1-year-old child accidentally ingested fentanyl capsules he had hidden.

Justin Ennis, 32, is facing endangering the welfare of children charges for the incident.

On December 26, 2017 around 6:55 p.m., police were dispatched to a home on Trolley Drive in Dallastown for a reported 1-year-old in cardiac arrest from a drug overdose.

Ennis told police that he had capsules containing fentanyl inside a cigarette pack. He said that he left the pack inside his jacket pocket, which he laid on the floor. He believed that the child must have gotten the capsules from the pack and ingested them, as he couldn't find the capsules.

Ennis told police that he almost killed the child, and described her as dying and being “gone” while on the phone with 911 dispatch.

A toxicology screening showed that the girl's fentanyl concentration was 36.1 nanograms per milliliter, and according to doctors at Penn State Hershey Medical Center, a fatal dose of fentanyl is considered to be 34 nanograms per milliliter.

The child did not die.