2 Young Pasco Children Test Positive For Fentanyl, Parents Arrested

DUNEDIN, FL — Port Richey parents have been arrested for child neglect after being accused of exposing a 1-year-old and 2-year-old child to fentanyl.

The investigation began on June 10 after Pinellas County sheriff's deputies responded to a hospital in Dunedin after receiving a report of an unresponsive 2-year-old child. When deputies arrived, the child’s parents, 36-year-old Jessica Ceron and 38-year-old Dexter Evans, were on hand.

Doctors said the child had labored breathing and tested positive for fentanyl. While doctors assisted the child, the 2-year-old went into respiratory arrest and required several doses of Narcan, a drug that counteracts the effects of fentanyl.

During the investigation, detectives learned that the couple's other child, who is just a year old, had exhibited similar symptoms a couple of days before. Tests showed the child was positive for fentanyl as well, according to the sheriff's office.

Detectives interviewed Ceron and Evans, who denied knowing how the children were exposed to the fentanyl. Ceron admitted to detectives that, on June 7, she smoked two rolled cigarettes containing what she believed to be the street drug “Molly.” Ceron also said Evans smoke rolled cigarettes with “white powder sprinkled inside it.”

On Sept. 7, Evans and Ceron, who live on Candida Lane in Port Richey, were arrested and each charged with two counts of child neglect.